Soldiers And Politics

Being a leader is a tedious job. However, there are particular people who could carry on such a feat. These people are known to be leaders. Most of them are gifted with the trait of being able to lead with certain competence and confidence. It is in good faith then that the people would choose this leader. What is generally baffling though is the fact that leaders coming from the military regiment could seldom achieve the role of becoming a leader in a country.

The first supposition regarding this circumstance is that the military men, despite their discipline, could not have the capacity to execute this trait to the people they are leading. Contrary to what others might believe, military men’s disciplined lifestyle could not be an added bonus factor if given the fact they are leaders of a country. The problem here lies in diversity. The case of traditional authority could not be applied. It all boils down to the issue of custom and What these people are used to and determined on having (Ridener).

A good example of this presupposition is the 1980 coup d’état in Turkey. It was said that the military took control and declared the martial law but they did not succeed and resigned from controlling the public sphere ("Politics and the Military"). In the Turkish history, the military had a special place when it comes to the country’s politics. However, it was known that the citizens and the country were undergoing democratization and the military could not interfere. Numerous coup d’état had been enacted by the military but the results were still the same. Most people are still grateful for the protection of the military but it could not extend when the military are bent to interfere with the country’s politics especially when most of the people are adamant to continue the democratization process (Knudsen). The charismatic pull, inspiring the call to the leader (Williams), from the authority could not hold then especially when the masses are swayed towards democracy.

It is the case then that military regime in the political scene could not be effective. The concept of traditional authority would say that the customs are essential for the people to accept and charisma would not help for long either.

Works Cited

1. Knudsen, Bertil Videt. "The Role of Military in Turkish Politics." 2005.
2. "Politics and the Military".1995. Turkey: The Armed Forces and Society. August 22, 2007.
3. Ridener, Larry R. "Weber: Types of Authority".1999. August 22, 2007. 
4. Williams, Dana. "Max Weber: Traditional, Legal-Rational, and Charismatic Authority". August 22, 2007.