Limited external interference: Enough autonomy that outside powers cannot simply reverse the coup the next day.
Some underlying social and economic discontent: Unrest makes the existing regime vulnerable and lowers loyalty in key institutions.
Luttwak also describes the necessary requirements for a successful coup:[46]
Narrow conspiratorial core: A small group within the military / security / bureaucratic nexus that secretly coordinates. The public and most of the state remain uninvolved.[46]
Control of key nodes, not everything: The aim is to control a few critical nodes (command centres, security headquarters, communications systems, symbolic buildings in the capital), because those nodes give leverage over the rest of the state machinery.[46]
Neutralization of loyalist centres of power: Rather than fighting the entire army, plotters should focus on isolating or paralyzing the parts that might resist: cutting communications, blocking movement, detaining top command if possible.
Manufactured perception of fait accompli: By controlling communication channels (broadcast media, now also digital channels) and visible symbols of authority, the coup group tries to create the perception that it already is the new authority. Most officials and citizens then adapt to what looks like the new reality.[46]
Connor and Hebditch (2017)[105] analyze the political, military, and social factors that cause the military to intervene in civilian government. They begin by categorizing coups into breakthrough coups, which are designed to overthrow traditional or colonial systems and initiate a new political order (e.g., Egypt 1952, Cuba 1959), guardian coups , which are aimed at restoring "order" or defending constitutional principles from a failing or corrupt civilian government (e.g., Turkey) , and veto coups, which are launched to block policies or prevent a particular group (e.g., civilian leftists) from gaining power (e.g., Argentina).[105]
Usually coups are swift, surgical military operation rather than a drawn-out revolution. It needs to strike when the government is weak, divided, or distracted (e.g., during an economic crisis or political chaos). The recruitment must be extremely covert and to prevent infiltration or preemptive arrests by the existing regime.[105]
Legal scholar Ilya Somin believes that a coup to forcibly overthrow a democratic government might sometimes be justified. Commenting on the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, Somin opined,
There should be a strong presumption against forcibly removing a democratic regime. But that presumption might be overcome if the government in question poses a grave threat to human rights, or is likely to destroy democracy itself by shutting down future political competition.[119]
Repression and counter-coups
It has been argued that failed coups might motivate a regime to reform and reduce repression.[112] Such reforms are not obvious in the data, as of 2017. Coups that fail, or merely shuffle the leadership without changing the system, generally do not change the amount of repression (measured in government-sanctioned and pro-government killings).[6][114]
Research from 2016 suggests that increased repression and violence typically follow both successful and unsuccessful coup attempts.[111] According to a 2019 study, coup attempts lead to a reduction in physical integrity rights.[120]
Coups that lead to democratization unsurprisingly reduce repression, and coups that bring in a new autocratic regime increase it. Post-Cold-War, post-coup autocracies seem to have become more repressive and post-coup democracies less repressive; the gap between them is therefore larger than it was during the Cold War.[6][114]
Averaging across democratic and non-democratic outcomes, most coups seem to tend to increase state repression, even coups against autocrats who were already quite repressive. The time interval in which violence is measured matters. The months after a bloodless coup can be bloody. The small sample size and high variability means that this conclusion again does not reach statistical significance, and a firm conclusion cannot be drawn.[121][6][114]
A 2017 study found that negative international responses, especially from powerful actors, have a significant effect in shortening the duration of regimes created in coups.[128]
According to a 2020 study, coups increase the cost of borrowing and increase the likelihood of sovereign default.[129]
Current leaders who assumed power via coups
Leaders are arranged in chronological order by the dates they assumed power, and categorized by the continents their countries are in.
Asia
Africa
↑Nabiyev was forced to resign by government militia on 7 September 1992, with Emomali Rahmon assumed interim power in November.[130] Emomali Rahmon was, at the time, known as Emomali Rahmonov (see Name changes).
↑Hadi was forced to resign by Houthi rebels on 22 January 2015, but later renounced his resignation. The coup culminated into a civil war.
↑Prime Minister, Head of Government (under Tunisian Constitution, Shared Executive Power), Kais Saied Also Abolished the Parliament, which represents the Legislative Power in a representative Democracy)
↑"Constitutional" Coup, By Activation of Article 80 (full Power Seizure in case of "Imminent Danger"), which is not well-defined, as there is a conflict of interest if the president is the sole arbiter of defining "Danger", and there is no judicial reconciliation (Ex. Constitutional/Supreme Court), Kais Saied removed Head of Government and Parliament
12"coup d'état". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
↑"What Is a Coup d'Etat? Definition and Examples". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
12345678Powell, Jonathan M; Thyne, Clayton L (March 2011). "Global instances of coups from 1950 to 2010: A new dataset". Journal of Peace Research. 48 (2): 249–259. doi:10.1177/0022343310397436. To summarize, our definition of a coup attempt includes illegal and overt attempts by the military or other elites within the state apparatus to unseat the sitting executive... Coups may be undertaken by any elite who is part of the state apparatus. These can include non-civilian members of the military and security services, or civilian members of government.
12Chin, John J; Carter, David B; Wright, Joseph G (2021). "The Varieties of Coups D'état: Introducing the Colpus Dataset". International Studies Quarterly. 65 (4): 1040–1051. doi:10.1093/isq/sqab058. A coup d ́etat occurs whenever the incumbent ruling regime or regime leader is ousted from power (or a presumptive regime leader is prevented from taking power) as a result of concrete, observable, and unconstitutional actions by one or more civilian members of the incumbent ruling regime and/or one or more members of the military or security apparatus
12345Marinov, Nikolay; Goemans, Hein (2014). "Coups and Democracy". British Journal of Political Science. 44 (4): 799–825. doi:10.1017/S0007123413000264. SSRN2270631.
12345678910111213141516Derpanopoulos, George; Frantz, Erica; Geddes, Barbara; Wright, Joseph (2016). "Are coups good for democracy?". Research & Politics. 3 (1) 2053168016630837. doi:10.1177/2053168016630837.
12Miller, Michael K. (2016). "Reanalysis: Are coups good for democracy?". Research & Politics. 3 (4) 2053168016681908. doi:10.1177/2053168016681908.
123Brooks, Risa A. (11 May 2019). "Integrating the Civil–Military Relations Subfield". Annual Review of Political Science. 22 (1): 379–398. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-060518-025407.
↑Singh, Naunihal (2014). Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups. JHU Press. ISBN978-1-4214-1337-2. ProjectMUSEbook31450.
↑ Timoneda, Joan C.; Escribà-Folch, Abel; Chin, John (2023年7月)「個人化への急ぎ足:独裁政権におけるクーデター失敗後の権力集中」British Journal of Political Science . 53 (3): 878–901. doi : 10.1017 /S0007123422000655 . hdl : 10230/57138 .
↑ハブトム、ナマン・カール=トーマス(2023年7月21日)。「失敗したクーデターが指導者を強化するとき」。War on the Rocks。2023年7月29日のオリジナルからアーカイブ。 2023年7月21日取得。
↑ Chin, John J; Carter, David B; Wright, Joseph G (2021). "クーデターの多様性: Colpusデータセットの紹介". International Studies Quarterly . 65 (4): 1040–1051 . doi : 10.1093/isq/sqab058 .
↑ Tufekci, Zeynep (2020年12月7日). "This Must Be Your First" . The Atlantic .政治学において、クーデターという用語は、現職政府の不当な転覆(通常は暴力または暴力の脅威による)を指す。選挙で敗北した後など、不当に権力を維持しようとする試みの専門用語は、自己クーデターまたはオートクーデター、時にはオートゴルペと呼ばれる。
↑Zeitz, Joshua; Althaus, Scott (19 August 2022). "Ask the 'Coupologists': Just What Was Jan. 6 Anyway?". Politico. Retrieved 28 December 2023. We have a set of categories including military coup, dissident coup, rebel coup, palace coup, foreign-backed coup, auto coup and others. So an attempted dissident coup is a coup initiated by a small group of discontents to include ex-military leaders, religious leaders, former government leaders, members of legislatures, parliament and civilians, but does not include security forces or police as they're organized arms of the government. And certainly by using that label, I am not trying to categorize in any sense the politics of people who are involved.
↑"It Was an Attempted Coup: The Cline Center's Coup D'état Project Categorizes the January 6, 2021 Assault on the US Capitol". Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
↑Barbara Geddes; Joseph George Wright; Joseph Wright; Erica Frantz (2018). How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse. Cambridge University Press. p.285. ISBN978-1-107-11582-8. where a monarch who had not been directly running the country (in the sense that there was a prime minister and responsible government...) decides to assume all power. Yugoslavia in 1929 was an example of this.
↑Newton, Kevin. Change Caused by Revolutions, Coups & Wars.
↑Lane, David (November 2008). "The Orange Revolution: 'People's Revolution' or Revolutionary Coup?". The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 10 (4): 525–549. doi:10.1111/j.1467-856X.2008.00343.x.
↑Ben Hammou, Salah; Powell, Jonathan; Sellers, Bailey (23 June 2023). "Sourcing and Bias in the Study of Coups: Lessons from the Middle East". International Studies Review. 25 (3) viad031. doi:10.1093/isr/viad031.
↑Bell, Curtis (August 2016). "Coup d'État and Democracy". Comparative Political Studies. 49 (9): 1167–1200. doi:10.1177/0010414015621081.
↑ Gassebner, Martin; Gutmann, Jerg; Voigt, Stefan (2016年12月)「クーデターはいつ起こるのか?クーデター決定要因の極値分析」Public Choice . 169 ( 3–4 ): 293–313 . doi : 10.1007/s11127-016-0365-0 .
↑ Harkness, Kristen A. (2016). "The Ethnic Army and the State: Explaining Coup Traps and the Difficulties of Democratization in Africa". The Journal of Conflict Resolution . 60 (4): 587–616 . doi : 10.1177/0022002714545332 . hdl : 10023/9391 . JSTOR 24755887 .
↑ Aslan, Ömer (2020). "軍事クーデターにおける国内および国際的な支持基盤". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics . doi : 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1931 . ISBN978-0-19-022863-7。
↑ Nordvik, Frode Martin (2019年4月)「石油はクーデターを促進するのか、それとも阻止するのか?答えはイエスだ」The Economic Journal . 129 (619): 1425–1456 . doi : 10.1111/ecoj.12604 . hdl : 11250/2657360 .
↑Arbatli, Cemal Eren; Arbatli, Ekim (April 2016). "External threats and political survival: Can dispute involvement deter coup attempts?". Conflict Management and Peace Science. 33 (2): 115–152. doi:10.1177/0738894214545956.
↑White, Peter B. (January 2020). "The Perils of Peace: Civil War Peace Agreements and Military Coups". The Journal of Politics. 82 (1): 104–118. doi:10.1086/705683.
↑Casper, Brett Allen; Tyson, Scott A. (April 2014). "Popular Protest and Elite Coordination in a Coup d'état". The Journal of Politics. 76 (2): 548–564. doi:10.1017/S0022381613001485.
↑Eibl, Ferdinand; Hertog, Steffen; Slater, Dan (July 2021). "War Makes the Regime: Regional Rebellions and Political Militarization Worldwide"(PDF). British Journal of Political Science. 51 (3): 1002–1023. doi:10.1017/S0007123419000528.
12Nordvik, Frode Martin (April 2019). "Does Oil Promote or Prevent Coups? The Answer is Yes". The Economic Journal. 129 (619): 1425–1456. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12604. hdl:11250/2657360.
↑Krishnarajan, Suthan; Rørbæk, Lasse Lykke (August 2020). "The Two-sided Effect of Elections on Coup Attempts". Journal of Conflict Resolution. 64 (7–8): 1279–1306. doi:10.1177/0022002719900001.
↑Powell, Jonathan; Schiel, Rebecca; Ben Hammou, Salah (11 August 2021). "Oil Wealth, Risk Acceptance, and the Seizure of Power". Journal of Global Security Studies. 6 (4) ogaa053. doi:10.1093/jogss/ogaa053.
↑サバテ、オリオル。エスプエラス、セルジオ。ヘランツ・ロンカン、アルフォンソ(2022年9月)。 「スペインにおける軍人賃金とクーデター (1850 ~ 1915 年): クーデター防止戦略としての公共支出の利用」。Revista de Historia Económica / イベリアおよびラテンアメリカ経済史のジャーナル。40 (2): 205–241。土井: 10.1017/S0212610920000270。hdl : 2445/188798。
↑ Woldense, Josef (2022年6月)「クーデターが失敗したらどうなるのか?内部の敵を特定し弱体化させる問題」比較政治研究55 (7): 1236–1265 . doi : 10.1177/00104140211047402 .
↑Escribà-Folch, Abel; Faulkner, Christopher; Mehrl, Marius (30 December 2024). "Foreign Legionnaires and Military Mutinies". Journal of Global Security Studies. 10 (2) ogaf001. doi:10.1093/jogss/ogaf001. hdl:10230/71375.
↑Dirsus, Marcel (2024). How tyrants fall: and how nations survive. London: John Murray. ISBN978-1-3998-0948-1.
123Muñoz, Katja (31 January 2023). "How to Plan and Execute a Coup". Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik.
↑"Orderly transfers of power occur less often than you might think". The Economist. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
↑Przeworski, Adam (January 2015). "Acquiring the Habit of Changing Governments Through Elections". Comparative Political Studies. 48 (1): 101–129. doi:10.1177/0010414014543614.
↑Varol, Ozan O. (2017). The Democratic Coup D'état. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-062602-0.
↑Thyne, Clayton (May 2017). "The impact of coups d'état on civil war duration". Conflict Management and Peace Science. 34 (3): 287–307. doi:10.1177/0738894215570431.
12345Wright, Joseph; Geddes, Barbara; Frantz, Erica; Derpanopoulos, George (22 February 2016). "Are coups good for democracy?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016.
1234Thyne, Clayton L.; Powell, Jonathan M. (April 2014). "Coup d'état or Coup d'Autocracy? How Coups Impact Democratization, 1950-2008". Foreign Policy Analysis. doi:10.1111/fpa.12046.
↑ Curtice, Travis B.; Arnon, Daniel (2020年11月)「脅威を抑止し、決着をつける:クーデターが身体的完全権の尊重にどのように影響するか」Conflict Management and Peace Science . 37 (6): 655–673 . doi : 10.1177/0738894219843240 .
↑ Lachapelle, Jean (2020). "No Easy Way Out: The Effect of Military Coups on State Repression". The Journal of Politics . 82 (4): 1354– 1372. doi : 10.1086/707309 . JSTOR 48809744 .
Przeworski, Adam; Alvarez, Michael E.; Cheibub, Jose Antonio; Limongi, Fernando (2000). Democracy and Development . doi : 10.1017/CBO9780511804946 . ISBN978-0-521-79032-1。