Introduction --Chapter I. An historical perspective: a critical review of the literature -- Research on civil-military relations in the Post-World War II Era -- Politics and the military in tropical Africa -- A critical overview of the literature -- Chapter II. The hypothetical model -- Chapter III. The research design -- Independent variable -- Dependent variable -- Association and causality -- Statistical procedures -- Chapter IV. Data analysis: Experimental group -- Burundi -- Central African Republic -- Congo (Brazzaville) -- Congo (Kinshasa) -- Dahomey -- Gabon -- Ghana -- Mali -- Nigeria -- Sierra Leone -- Somali Republic -- Sudan -- Togo -- Uganda -- Upper Volta -- Conclusions -- Chapter V. Data analysis: control group -- Botswana – Cameroon -- Chad -- Ethiopia -- The Gambia -- Ivory Coast -- Kenya -- Lesotho -- Liberia -- Malagasy Republic -- Malawi -- Mauritania -- Niger -- Rwanda – Senegal -- Swaziland -- Tanzania -- Zambia -- Conclusions -- Chapter VI. Conclusions and directions for future research -- Directions for future research.