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Book details

Incomplete transition

military power and democracy in Argentina

by J. Patrice McSherry

Published 1997408 pagesISBN 978-0-3121-6252-8

Despite crucial steps toward democracy, the role of military-security forces in Argentina remains significant. Incomplete Transition demonstrates and analyzes the ongoing political impact of institutionalized military power in a country that has officially been under civilian rule since 1983. Examining the presidency of Raul Alfonsin (1983-1989), McSherry shows the struggle that developed between democratizing sectors and the armed forces to define the nature of Argentina's emerging democracy. She then proceeds to reveal how reduced confrontation under the Menem administration has not erased the continuing institutional presence of the military-security apparatus within the political system. In addition to offering a comprehensive study of the political workings in Argentina, McSherry offers a conceptual framework for understanding all political systems that combine features of democracy with features of persisting military control. Incomplete Transition is a book that anyone interested in Latin American politics and history or in the transition of governments around the world will want to read.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

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What the reading experience may hold

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Themes to notice

Nonfiction

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Content notes

Catalog signals suggest warfare and conflict. These notes may not be complete; consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.

These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.

Reading experience

Dark tone · Measured pace

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Who it may suit

A good fit if…

Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.

At a glance

This book's DNA

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ToneDark
LuminousDark

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Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc

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PeakRelative emotional intensity
Incomplete transitionJ. Patrice McSherry
Powerful5/5

This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.

Before you choose

A quick reading snapshot

Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.

Reading lengthA standard-length read408 pages in this edition
Publication eraModernFirst published or edition dated 1997
Primary categoryNonfictionExplore similar books below
ISBN-13
978-0-3121-6252-8
Language
English
Edition record
OL1008933M
BookenDeX editorial lens

A more thoughtful way into this book

This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.

Good to know

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Begin with its place in Nonfiction, then notice where the book resists that label.

Try this reading approach

Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. Whose perspective organizes the story, and whose perspective remains outside it?
  2. Which sources or lived experiences carry the author’s central argument?
  3. How does the book change the way you understand its larger subject?

Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.