of politicallegitimacy. Such is probably the case with the regime in power in
Pakistan at the beginning of the 21st century. In some cases the leaders of the
regime may intend to restore the democratic system of government as soon as it
is deemed safe to do so, although the restoration of normal political life is often
difficult. In fact, military regimes may be a thing of the past, as there are now
far fewer than at some periods in the 20th century. Military regimes have been
such a common form of government in part because military organizations
often have more administrative and technical skills than civilian governments
in less developed societies. Categorization may be increasingly difficult, how-
ever. It is unclear, for example, whether to treat Iraq as a military regime or
not, given that it is kept in place by the loyalty of some parts of the military
forces, but has civilian elements in the government, and was originally a one-
party state.
Military coups and military regimes are most often associated with Third
World countries, although Greece, Poland, Portugal and Turkey have all
experienced periods of military government in the post-war period. In Latin
America military regimes have frequently brought experiments with demo-
cratic government to an end, although their supporters would claim that
military intervention was necessary to end the spiral of hyperinflation, urban
terrorismand disorder which the troubled democracies were experiencing.
In some countries the existence of a military regime is associated with extreme
repression such as the so-called ‘death squads’ and torture units, found in El
Salvador, Somoza’s Nicaragua and in Argentina before civilian rule was
restored after the Falkland Islands conflict.
Militias
The huge professional or conscript standingarmiesof the post-Second World
War period, intended to fight a major war with little supplementation from the
civilian population, are historically anomalous. More typically nations have
relied mainly on part-time military forces of civilians (seecitizen soldier)
who meet regularly but infrequently to train together, and who can be called
on by the government in emergencies. Only when called on do they become
completely under national governmental control, only then are they paid
properly, and there are often severe restrictions on how long they can be
mobilized and where they can be sent to fight. One common constraint is that
militias are seldom used outside their home country, as they are justified almost
entirely on the grounds of national defence, with small professional standing
armies being used for external adventures. Thus although Britain had a large
militia system throughout the 19th century, it was not until 1914 that the
militia, by then transformed into the Territorial Army, was used abroad. As
modern high-technology warfare requires very rapid responses and advanced
Militias