The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Polarization and Democracy in Latin America: Legacies of the Left Turn
English Summary
The article argues that Latin American democratic left-wing forces are struggling due to two opposing political pitfalls: moderate social democrats succumbing to 'conformist temptation' by accepting capitalist limits, and radical populists falling into 'autocratic temptation.' The analysis uses case studies—contrasting the stability of Uruguay’s Broad Front with the failures in Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela—to demonstrate that maintaining democracy requires balancing popular support with institutional integrity. For policymakers, the implication is a need for strategic recalibration within the left to avoid both technocratic complacency and authoritarian overreach.
中文摘要
本文論述拉丁美洲的左翼民主力量正因應兩種對立的政治陷阱而陷入困境：一是溫和的社會民主派，容易屈服於「從眾誘惑」，接受資本主義的限制；二是激進的民粹主義者，則易落入「威權誘惑」。分析透過案例研究——比較烏拉圭廣線聯盟（Broad Front）的穩定性與巴西、智利和委內瑞拉的失敗經驗——證明了維護民主必須在掌握民心支持與維持制度完整性之間取得平衡。對於政策制定者而言，其啟示是左翼勢力內部需要進行戰略調整，以避免陷入技術官僚式的自滿（complacency）或威權主義式的過度擴張（overreach）。
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