Mexico's Military on the Democratic Stage

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Roderic Ai Camp

ISBN: 0-275-98810-4

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-98810-4

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392 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 9/30/2005

List Price: $51.95 (UK Sterling Price: £35.95)

Discount Price: $25.98 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.

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Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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Reviews:

Roderic Camp's impressive new book on Mexican civil-military relations from 1876 to the present provides an unprecedented look at the sociology of the Mexican officer corps, their relationship with Mexican elites, and their relationship with Mexican society at large....In multiple ways, this study significantly raises the bar for future research in the field.
—Political Science Quarterly Fall 2006
Camp's book is very important because, while we read a lot about the military leaders of South America who often take over the government, we hear little about the Mexican military, who are under civilian control....Because of our close ties with Mexico, this book is very important. Camp discusses Vicente Fox, but he does not mention Lopez Obrador,who polls suggest will be elected the next president of Mexico. Although a leftist, he denies that he will imitate Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez, but we do not know if he will be elected, what policies he will follow, or how he will deal with the Zapatistas, for whom he is said to feel sympathy. My guess is that Mexico's ties with the US are so strong that he will avoid alienating it. However, that did not deter Castro or Chavez. How the Mexican army would respond to these eventualities is an enigma, but Camp's book provides a solid basis for reasonable projections.
—World Association of International Studies 2005
[F]ocuses on the evolution of Mexican civil-military relations in the context of Mexico's transition to competitive democracy. The author argues that the Mexican military is not a threat to democratic control, even though the presidency no longer controls the legislature and the armed forces have acquired an expanded role in fighting the drug cartels. Nevertheless, the Mexican military is vulnerable to corruption and remains a highly authoritarian institution. University-level education in the Navy and in the graduate-level Colegio de Defensa Nacional is described as superior to officer education in the Army's Escuela Superior de Guerra....Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and practitioners.
—Choice 5/1/2006

Description: Based on information not available previously, this comprehensive study details the history, evolution, and changing relationship between the armed forces and civilian leadership in Mexico in the second half of the 20th century. Camp focuses on the past two decades during which democratic transformation produced important changes within the armed forces, in particular the navy. Despite institutional autonomy, a lack of reform, and an increase in civilian missions, the Mexican armed forces remain subordinate to civilian political authorities, and Camp finds little evidence to support the common notion that they are a significant threat to civilian supremacy in general or to the democratic process in particular.

This work draws from published and unpublished sources, military websites, and material obtained through numerous freedom of information requests made directly through the secretariat of national defense. It includes correspondence and interviews with Mexican officers, specialists and journalists who have covered the military and American officers who have trained or worked with the Mexican armed forces. Based upon thirty-five years of research, Camp incorporates detailed data on 670 army, air force, and naval officers at the two or three star rank, into the only comprehensive biographical data bank ever compiled on the Mexican military. This allows for insightful comparisons between the navy and army, on such topics as leadership, training, international education, and promotion. It reveals new organizational developments within the armed forces, especially the navy, and the new roles civil political institutions are playing vis-a-vis the armed forces.

Table of Contents:

Civil-Military Relations in a Democratic Mexico
Civil-Military Relations in Historical Context
The Sociology of Civil-Military Relations
Military-Civilian Interlocks, The Politicized Officer
Civilian Missions: Redefining Civil-Military Relations?
Citizen and Military Views of Civil-Military Relations
Educating the Officer Corps
Higher and Global Officer Education
Reaching the Top
Challenges to Civil-Military Relations in the 21st Century
Bibliographic Essay
Appendix 1
Collective Biographical Data

About the Author: Roderic Ai Camp is the Philip McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim at Claremont McKenna College. He serves as an adjunct fellow of the Mexico Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and on the Advisory Board, Mexico Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. He is the author of numerous articles and twenty books on Mexico. His recent publications include Politics in Mexico: the Democratic Transformation (2003), Mexico's Mandarins: Crafting a Power Elite for the 21st Century (2002), and Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America (2001).

LCC Class: F1236


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