Throughout the 20th century, military juntas were frequently seen in
Latin America, typically in the form of an "institutionalized, highly corporate/professional junta" headed by the commanding officers of the different
military branches (
army,
navy, and
air force), and sometimes joined by the head of the national
police or other key bodies. A 2014 study published in the
Annual Review of Political Science journal found that military regimes behaved differently from both civilian dictatorships and autocratic military strongmen. A military regime is ruled by a group of high-ranking officers, whereas a military strongman is ruled by a single dictator. The study found that (1) "strongmen and military regimes are more likely to commit
human rights abuses and become embroiled in civil wars than are civilian dictatorships"; (2) "military strongmen start more international wars than either military regimes or civilian dictators, perhaps because they have more reason to fear postouster exile, prison, or assassination" and (3) military regimes and civilian dictatorships are more likely to end in
democratization, in contrast to the rule of military strongmen, which more often ends by insurgency, popular uprising, or invasion. == Current examples ==