Huntington (1991) has made a number of relevant suggestions for democratizing
states that wish to avoid praetorianism. First, he warns that soldiers will think ‘‘they
are badly paid, badly housed, and badly provided for—and they are probably right’’
(Huntington 1991, 252). Regimes should address these deficiencies by reducing the
size of their militaries and increasing individual salaries, pensions, and benefits.
Second, leaders should give their militaries ‘‘toys’’ such as ‘‘fancy tanks, planes,
armored cars, [and] artillery’’ (Huntington 1991, 252). Desch (1999) has similarly
claimed that states would be more immune to military interventionism when
‘‘supplying sufficient resources’’ for external missions, and Powell (2012) finds that
increased expenditures per soldier is an effective method for reducing coups.