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Self-coup

Elected leader illegally maintaining or increasing power

Elected leader illegally maintaining or increasing power

A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in office or vastly increases their power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The leader may dissolve or render powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assume extraordinary powers. Other measures may include annulling the constitution, suspending civil courts, and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.

From 1946 to the beginning of 2021, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts took place, 110 in autocracies and 38 in democracies.

List of self-coups

  • Roman Republic: Julius Caesar (February 44 BC; when declared dictator perpetuo)

  • Sweden: King Gustavus III (August 19, 1772)--

  • Federal Republic of Central America: President Manuel José Arce (October 10, 1826)

  • Second French Republic: President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (December 2, 1851)

  • Bulgaria: Prince Alexander of Battenberg ()--

  • Uruguay: President Juan Lindolfo Cuestas (February 10, 1898)

  • Austria: Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss (March 15, 1933)

  • Germany: Chancellor Adolf Hitler (March 23, 1933 / August 2, 1934)

  • Uruguay: President Gabriel Terra (March 31, 1933)

  • Estonia: Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder Konstantin Päts (March 12, 1934)

  • Latvia: Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis (May 15–16, 1934)

  • Kingdom of Greece: Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas (August 4, 1936)

  • Paraguay: President Higinio Morínigo (November 30, 1940)--

  • Brazil: President Getúlio Vargas (November 10, 1937)

  • Uruguay: President Alfredo Baldomir (February 21, 1942)

  • Kingdom of Romania: King Michael I of Romania (August 23, 1944)

  • Bolivia: President Mamerto Urriolagoitía (May 16, 1951)

  • Pakistan: Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad (April 1953 – September 21, 1954)

  • Indonesia: President Sukarno (July 5, 1959)

  • Nepal: King Mahendra (December 15, 1960)

  • Thailand: Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn (November 17, 1971)

  • Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos (September 23, 1972)

  • South Korea: President Park Chung Hee (October 17, 1972)

  • Swaziland: King Sobhuza II (April 12, 1973)

  • Uruguay: President Juan María Bordaberry (June 27, 1973)

  • China: Premier Hua Guofeng (October 6, 1976)

  • Thailand: Prime Minister Kriangsak Chamanan (November 10, 1977)--

  • Peru: President Alberto Fujimori (April 5, 1992)

  • Russia: President Boris Yeltsin (September 21, 1993)

  • Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen (July 1997)

  • Nepal: King Gyanendra (February 1, 2005)

  • Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro (March 29, 2017)

  • Peru: President Martín Vizcarra (September 30, 2019)

  • Malaysia: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (29 February 2020)

  • Russia: President Vladimir Putin (July 4, 2020)

  • El Salvador: President Nayib Bukele (May 1, 2021)

  • Tunisia: President Kais Saied (July 25, 2021)

  • Sudan: Chairman of the Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (October 25, 2021)

Notable events described as attempted self-coups

Notes

References

References

  1. (2021). "The Varieties of Coups D'état: Introducing the Colpus Dataset". International Studies Quarterly.
  2. Kaufman, Edy. "Uruguay in Transition: From Civilian to Military Rule". Transaction Publishers.
  3. (December 7, 2020). "This Must Be Your First". The Atlantic.
  4. Nakamura, David. (January 5, 2021). "With brazen assault on election, Trump prompts critics to warn of a coup". The Washington Post.
  5. Hemel, Daniel. (2024-01-08). "Self-Coup and the Constitution". Constitutional Commentary.
  6. (1951). "Historia de la Federación de la América Central: 1823–1840". Hispanic Cultural Editions.
  7. (October 2022). "Why Democracies Survive". [[Journal of Democracy]].
  8. (February 11, 1898). "URUGUAY UNDER A DICTATOR.; Senor Cuestas Executes a Coup d'Etat and Dissolves the Assembly". The New York Times.
  9. (February 4, 2021). "Assault on Democracy". Cambridge University Press.
  10. (September 28, 2018). "Germany 1933: from democracy to dictatorship".
  11. "The March Revolution in Uruguay 1933".
  12. (2002). "XX sajandi kroonika, I osa". Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus.
  13. "A very Brazilian coup".
  14. "El barro de la historia - El golpe de 1942.".
  15. Deletant, Dennis. (2006). "Hitler's Forgotten Ally: Ion Antonescu and His Regime, Romania 1940–1944". Palgrave Macmillan.
  16. "The Bolivian Revolution".
  17. (April 4, 2023). "70-year history of constitutional crises in Pakistan". [[The News International]].
  18. (January 1955). "Governor General's Rule in Pakistan". [[Institute of Pacific Relations]].
  19. Pauker, Guy J.. (1967). "Indonesia: The Year of Transition". Asian Survey.
  20. (1990). "South Korea: A Country Study". [[United States Government Publishing Office.
  21. (April 16, 1973). "PROCLAMATION BY HIS MAJESTY KING SOBHUZA II 12TH APRIL 1973".
  22. Hlengiwe Portia Dlamini (2019). ''A Constitutional History of the Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland), 1960–1982''. Springer Nature, pp. 279. ISBN 978-3-030-24776-8. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-24777-5.
  23. Kenney, Charles D.. (2004). "Fujimori's coup and the breakdown of democracy in Latin America". [[University of Notre Dame Press]].
  24. link. (30 September 2015). [[Kommersant]]
  25. (February 7, 2019). "Judicial Power: How Constitutional Courts Affect Political Transformations". Cambridge University Press.
  26. (2003). "International Politics in a Changing World". Longman.
  27. link. K. L.. Maidanik. (Summer 2000)
  28. "Making of a strongman: In July 1997, Hun Sen took complete control of the country – and his party".
  29. (2021). "Desafíos actuales de Asia oriental". Eudeba.
  30. (March 30, 2017). "Venezuela Muzzles Legislature, Moving Closer to One-Man Rule".
  31. "4 claves para entender la crisis política que atraviesa Perú tras la disolución del Congreso (y lo que puede pasar ahora)". [[BBC News]].
  32. (2019-09-30). "Peru military, police back Vizcarra as rebel lawmakers vow loyalty to VP". [[Reuters]].
  33. (October 2, 2019). "Peruvian Vice President Resigns After Congress Fails to Oust Nation's Leader".
  34. (March 22, 2020). "Malaysia's frustrated 'No. 2' leaders pull off political coup". [[Nikkei, Inc..
  35. link. (February 6, 2020)
  36. Guriev, Sergei. (January 18, 2020). "Putin's Meaningless Coup". [[Project Syndicate]].
  37. (September 7, 2021). "There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  38. (20 May 2021). "El Salvador's President Launched a 'Self-Coup'. Watch for Creeping Corruption and Authoritarianism". [[The Washington Post]].
  39. Megerisi, Tarek. (August 2, 2021). "Saied's Textbook Self-Coup in Tunisia". Dawn.
  40. (2022). "'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Autocracy': Kais Saied's 'Constitutional Self-Coup' in Tunisia". Journal of Asian and African Studies.
  41. Cherkaoui, Tarek. (25 August 2021). "OPINION – Tunisia's dangerous moment: A self-coup". Anadolu Agency.
  42. Kiwuwa, David. (October 27, 2021). "Sudan's self-coup and four factors that will determine what comes next". African Arguments.
  43. Barry S. Levitt (2006), "A Desultory Defense of Democracy: OAS Resolution 1080 and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, ''Latin American Politics and Society'', Volume 48, Issue 3, September 2006, Pages: 93–123. pp104-5
  44. (January 22, 2021). "Coup attempts usually usher in long stretches of democratic decline, data shows". [[The Washington Post]].
  45. (February 25, 2020). "Mahathir proposes to lead 'unity government' – sources". Reuters.
  46. Harvey, Michael. (2022). "Donald Trump in Historical Perspective". Routledge.
  47. (April 17, 2023). "January 6th and De-Democratization in the United States". [[MDPI]].
  48. Carvalho, Diego. (October 17, 2023). "Brazil's Bolsonaro Plotted Coup After Election Defeat, Congressional Probe Finds". Bloomberg.
  49. Arias, Juan. (August 25, 2023). "Brazilian military caught in the crossfire after failed coup attempt against Lula's government". El País.
  50. Friedman, Thomas L.. (February 14, 2023). "Netanyahu's Judicial Coup Could Destroy His Start-Up Nation". [[The New York Times]].
  51. Friedman, Thomas L.. (2023-03-28). "Netanyahu Cannot Be Trusted". [[The New York Times]].
  52. Kingsley, Patrick. (July 23, 2023). "Israel's Identity Hangs in Balance Ahead of Key Vote on New Law". [[The New York Times]].
  53. (2023-03-27). "A Coup d'État in Israel? : The Bitter Harvest of Colonialism".
  54. Harari, Yuval Noah. (March 9, 2023). "This Is Definitely a Coup. Israel Is on Its Way to Becoming a Dictatorship". Haaretz.
  55. Freedland, Jonathan. (2023-03-31). "Netanyahu is leading a coup against his own country. But the threat is not only to Israel". [[The Guardian]].
  56. Starr, Michael. (January 8, 2023). "30,000 march in Tel Aviv against 'coup d'état' Levin judicial reform".
  57. Palmer, James. (4 December 2024). "How South Koreans Rejected Martial Law".
  58. Schaefer, Christopher. (5 December 2024). "Lessons From South Korea's Six-Hour Dictatorship".
  59. (23 March 2025). "Turkey lurches toward outright autocracy as Erdoğan's main rival is jailed". Politico.
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