Empirical research has shown how the role of institutions, civic culture, ethnic fractionalisation, the political economy, and demographic factors affect the stability of democracies, but none has explored the role of the military as an institution that can drastically influence the process of democratic consolidation. This led many scholars to notice how the study of comparative democratisation has been state-centric, but it has largely neglected the role of the military in determining post-transitional outcomes. Thus, this study takes on this challenge by examining the role of the military in the democratisation process more than 30 years after the third wave. The results suggest that highly politicised military structures among transitional states have a deleterious effect on the quality of democracy. More specifically, if the military has institutionalised its role in politics as being interventionist, the likelihood of democratic consolidation becomes difficult. The article highlights the importance of restricting reserved domains granted to the military in the transition process in order to strengthen prospects for democratic stability.
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