BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

EXPLAINING DEMOCRATIC STABILITY IN INDIA AND INSTABILITY IN BRAZIL: POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MILITARY DETERMINANTS

Author: Bhuian Md. Monoar Kabir

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2001v22n2a1

ABSTRACT

This paper explains the phenomena of democratic stability and breakdown in two industrially advanced developing countries, India and Brazil respectively. Key variables used are econo-military dependency, economic development, and civil-military relations. None of the existing explanations for the stabilily of the Indian democracy and the 1964 breakdown of the Brazilian democracy combine both internal and external variables. Modifying the existing mono-causal explanations, this paper argues that interactions among such variables as economic and military dependence on the United States and the multilateral financial institutions, and role of the military and the counter-hegemonic forces account for most of the variations between the two cases. A combination of prolonged economic crises, weak, polarized and fragmented political institutions, counter-hegemonic forces, pro-US Cold War policies, and dependence on the US military aid caused the breakdown of Brazilian democracy in 1964. Quite opposite nature of these factors and interactions among them accounted for democratic stability in India. II also finds thaI prolonged economic crises coupled with mild counter-hegemonic threat, exlernal dependence, and deinstitutionalization of the Congress Party led 10 the imposition of a brief authoritarian regime in India in June 1975. India's non-political military, with no US military links, its national security doctrine and a hosl of other domestic factor.. ensured thaI military did nol takeover political power.