First published in 1989, in Military Rule in Latin America Karen L. Remmer draws upon a wide variety of sources, including interviews with top government officials, to challenge prevailing interpretations of military rule. She questions the assumption that military regimes can be adequately understood in terms of their origins and shows how important variations among them reflect the roles of state actors and institutions.

In the first part of the book, Remmer provides a broad overview of military rule in Latin America; in the second, a detailed case study of Chile under the Pinochet regime. She concludes by examining the implications of her findings for understanding transitions from authoritarianism and the consolidation of democracy. This groundbreaking work is essential reading for scholars and researchers of Latin American studies, political studies and comparative politics.