Are undemocratic means necessary to protect democracy? The United States, during Reconstruction, and Brazil, from 1964 to 1985, tested this question with periods of military rule rather than liberal democracy. If these military interventions had been effective, they would have achieved the objectives initially set and would have had positive and lasting impacts on society. In both countries, although the use of the military brought efficiency and power that achieved their initial objectives, there were not enough lasting benefits to make the military interventions more effective than democracy. In order to rebuild the South and reform the union, Congress created five military-run districts with soldiers stationed in each district to maintain order. Republicans argued that this militant authority was necessary to protect the liberties of southern blacks. It provided the efficiency and power necessary to prevent the landed aristocracy from regaining control of the South. They also passed "three implementing laws that expanded the jurisdiction of federal courts over civil rights and voting, and authorized the president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and use the military to dismantle the Ku Klux Klan” (McPherson, 1992, p. 143). ). In order to expand the civil liberties of freedmen, the federal government removed the freedom of habeas corpus and limited democracy at the state level. Rather than reforming Southern state governments and using democracy to spread freedom, the military removed state government officials and Congress expanded federal courts to act in place of state courts in matters of civil rights and voting rights. The South has also done more harm than good in the area where...... middle of paper ...... effective than military interventions, although the effects may take longer to be felt. Works Cited Amado, J. (2003). Tent of Miracles (BS Merello, Trans.). I. Stavans (ed.). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. Brown, H.B. and Harlan, J.M. (1896). Plessy v. Ferguson (Full text). DuBois, WE (1903). The souls of black people. Foner, E. (nd). Reconstruction (US History). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved November 17, 2013 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/493722/ReconstructionMcPherson, J.M. (1992). Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Roett, R. (2010). The new Brazil. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Willson, M. (2010). Let's Dance Lest We All Fall: Breaking the Cycles of Poverty in Brazil and Beyond. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press.