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Building Democratic Institutions: Civil-Military Relations in New European Democracies

Abstract

This dissertation examines the process of establishing democratic civilian control over military in transitioning societies. It argues that democratic civil-military relations necessitate an institutional framework which empowers civilians to take charge of formulating and executing defense policies and provides for a significant level of checks and balances among the civilian decision-making bodies. However, even when the structural prerequisites for democracy exist, this institutional framework cannot be established if any significant segments of the society question the legitimacy of the state itself and create uncertainty regarding the country's future. This argument is tested through tracing of the process of defense reforms in three former Yugoslav states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Montenegro. In all three states the nature of civil-military relations and the quality of legislative defense framework varied with the level of challenges to state legitimacy.

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