Security Sector Reform in Constitutional Transitions

Security sector reform (SSR) is central to the democratic transitions currently unfolding across the globe, as a diverse range of countries grapple with how to transform militias, tribal forces, and dominant military, police, and intelligence agencies into democratically controlled and accountable security services. SSR will be a key element in shifts from authoritarian to democratic rule for the foreseeable future, since abuse of the security sector is a central technique of autocratic government. This edited collection advances solutions through a selection of case studies from around the world that cover a wide range of contexts.

Table of Contents:
Zoltan Barany, Sumit Bisarya, Sujit Choudhry, and Richard Stacey: Introduction: Leverage, Sequencing, Design, and Separation-Considerations in Security Sector Reform During Constitutional Transition PART I MILITARY DICTATORSHIPS 1: Narcís Serra: Security Sector Reform in Post-Franco Spain 2: Gonzalo García Pino: The Slow Change in Chile: Long-Term Security Sector Reform Alongside Constitutional Transition 3: Sandra Elena and Julia Pomares: Argentina's Security Sector Reform: Democratization Before Constitutional Transition 4: Agus Widjojo and Andrew Ellis: Stage-Managing Security Sector Reform in Indonesia PART II POLICE STATES 5: Richard Stacey: Police Impunity in Kenya 6: Ernest Lartey and Kwesi Aning: Constitutional Reform and Security Sector Reform in Ghana 7: Richard Stacey and Christina Murray: Security Sector Reform and Democratic Transition in Parallel: The South African Case PART III POST-AUTHORITARIAN REFORM: RUPTURES, CONFLICT, AND MANAGED TRANSITIONS 8: Zaid al-Ali: Constitutional Reform Processes and Security Sector Reform: Principles for Practice-Iraq Case Study 9: Philippe Droz-Vincent: The Arab Spring Region in a Constitutional Era: A Few Instances of Short-Lived Security Sector Reform Zoltan Barany, Sujit Choudhry, and Kent Roach: Conclusion: Security Sector Reform and constitutional Transitions-Challenging the Consensus

About the Author :
Zoltan Barany is Frank C. Erwin, Jr., Centennial Professor, Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Sumit Bisarya is Head of Constitution Building and Head of Mission at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Sujit Choudhry is Director of the Center for Constitutional Transitions; Guest Researcher, Centre for Global Constitutionalism, WZB Berlin Social Science Centre; and Constitutional Advisor, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Richard Stacey is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.

Review :
This path-breaking volume provides the first in-depth examination of the role security sector reforms in democratizing constitutional transitions, drawing on a rich set of case studies spanning Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. The volume offers critical lessons for those interested in post-authoritarian democratic transitions, challenging the conventional wisdom that security services must always be kept out of transitional processes and identifying key roles they might play to ensure stability and enable effective civilian oversight. Evidence drawn from cross-regional comparison allows the editors to develop empirically-grounded theoretical insights in a concluding chapter that makes an incisive and original contribution to the growing literature on democratic transitions. This volume deals with one of the most significant but neglected aspects of constitutional transition. Security sector reform is a sine qua non of effective transition but, almost by definition, hard to achieve. This volume makes a critical initial foray into the field, with cases from nine states, spanning different regions, in which the challenge manifested itself in a wide variety of contexts. Highly recommended. No account of the rocky transition to democracy can fail to address the role and responsibility of the national security services in the prior regime. Until now, most academic attention turned to the demands of human rights and transitional justice. This volume fills a critical void by examining how the military and police infrastructures were handled by the nascent democracies. From the defeated military of Argentina, to the commanding regimes of Chile and Spain, and through traditional autocratic countries, each democracy had to walk a fine line between confrontation and capitulation. Domesticating the repressive fist of autocracy proves a complex and compelling subject of study. An important addition to the literature on stabilizing new democracies.