Concordance and islamization in civil-military relations: a comparative study of Pakistan and Turkey

Abstract

In order to test and reanalyse the theory of concordance proposed by Rebecca Schiff, this thesis applies it to two case studies – Pakistan’s 1999 coup and Turkey’s 2016 coup attempt – using a qualitative approach. Inquiring whether concordance among the military, the political elites, and the citizenry prevents domestic military intervention, the study focuses on the military coup outcome as its dependent variable. By using a comparative case analysis approach, not only the level of concordance is evaluated based on four indicators of concordance – social composition of officer corps, recruitment method, the political decision-making process, and military style – across two Muslim-majority democracies, but the role of Islamization in the military in achieving or preventing concordance is also explored. Comparing Pakistan with a highly Islamized military, an Islamic constitution, and a non-secular civilian government in the 1988-1999 period, and Turkey whose military has low and covert Islamization, a secular constitution, and a non-secular civilian government in the 2002-2016 period, this study concludes that Islamization in the military both aids and prevents concordance and hence, domestic military intervention, depending on specific conditions. Furthermore, although this research verifies concordance theory, it also proposes modest modifications to the theory by presenting different types of concordance that may exist among the three actors and highlighting the role of Islamization as an essential part of the culture in Muslim-majority states.