Explore the vast range of titles available.

How coups happen and why half of them fail. While coups drive a majority of regime changes and are responsible for the overthrow of many democratic governments, there has been very little empirical work on the subject. Seizing Power develops a new theory of coup dynamics and outcomes, drawing on 300 hours of interviews with coup participants and an original dataset of 471 coup attempts worldwide from 1950 to 2000. Naunihal Singh delivers a concise and empirical evaluation, arguing that understanding the dynamics of military factions is essential to predicting the success or failure of coups. Singh draws on an aspect of game theory known as a coordination game to explain coup dynamics. He finds a strong correlation between successful coups and the ability of military actors to project control and the inevitability of success. Examining Ghana's multiple coups and the 1991 coup attempt in the USSR, Singh shows how military actors project an image of impending victory that is often more powerful than the reality on the ground. In addition, Singh also identifies three distinct types of coup dynamics, each with a different probability of success, based on where within the organization each coup originated: coups from top military officers, coups from the middle ranks, and mutinous coups from low-level soldiers.

The triumphant rise of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte over his Republican opponents has been the central theme of most narrative accounts of mid-nineteenth-century France, while resistance to the coup d'état generally has been neglected. By placing the insurrection of December 1851 in a broad perspective of socioeconomic and political development, Ted Margadant displays its full significance as a turning point in modern French history. He argues that, as the first expression of a new form of political participation on the part of the peasants, resistance to the coup was of greater importance than previously supposed. Furthermore, it provides and appropriate testing ground for more general theories of peasant movements and popular revolts. Using manuscript materials in French national and departmental archives that cover all the major areas of revolt, the author examines the insurrection in depth on a national scale. After a brief discussion of the main characteristics of the insurrection, he analyzes its economic and social foundations; the dialectic of repression and conspiracy that fostered the political crisis; and the armed mobilizations, violence, and massive arrests that exploded as the result. A final chapter considers the implications of the insurrection for larger issues in the social and political history of modern France.

How did the Republic of Venice go 486 years without a single coup d’état or coup attempt? Is it the same force that has generated stability in Britain since 1746, in the United States since 1776, and in a growing number of nations around the world? This thoughtful and engaging book offers the first extended analysis of coups, which have played a central role in world history and politics. Ivan Perkins draws on his extensive research on the history and inner workings of coups to explain how a small but growing number of nations have escaped chronic violence and built states with perpetually peaceful transfers of power. Readers will explore the rising coup-free zone, from the baroque system behind 486 years of stability in Venice to today’s heavy-handed but efficient regime in Singapore. Along the way, the author recounts some of history’s most gripping political intrigues: the spontaneous street uprising against King Tarquinius Superbus in Rome, the machinations of Bengali officials that launched the British Empire, and the fears that compelled General Pinochet to join a coup and become dictator of Chile. Perkins examines in detail the first three coup-free states. He argues against the standard theory of stability, which holds that professional military officers are so thoroughly trained in ethics and civilian control that leading a coup would be unthinkable. Instead, he proposes a new and simpler interpretation: stability is founded not on ethics but on law. An impartial rule of law weakens personal loyalty relationships, especially within the political-military establishment, and inhibits grand criminal conspiracies. The book concludes with a new explanation for the “democratic peace” and shows why coup-free states form enduring alliances.

In mid-nineteenth-century Mexico, garrisons, town councils, state legislatures, and an array of political actors, groups, and communities began aggressively petitioning the government at both local and national levels to address their grievances. Often viewed as a revolt or a coup d'état, thesepronunciamientoswere actually a complex form of insurrectionary action that relied first on the proclamation and circulation of a plan that listed the petitioners' demands and then on endorsement by copycat pronunciamientos that forced the authorities, be they national or regional, to the negotiating table. InIndependent Mexico, Will Fowler provides a comprehensive overview of the pronunciamiento practice following the Plan of Iguala. This fourth and final installment in, and culmination of, a larger exploration of the pronunciamiento highlights the extent to which this model of political contestation evolved. The result of more than three decades of pronunciamiento politics was the bloody Civil War of the Reforma (1858-60) and the ensuing French Intervention (1862-67). Given the frequency and importance of the pronunciamiento, this book is also a concise political history of independent Mexico.

The author names names, and explores how British influence aggravated indigenous rivalries. He shows how various factions in the military were able to hold onto power and resist civil and international pressure for democratic governance by exploiting the country?s oil wealth and ethnic divisions to its advantage.Africa is more and more in the headlines as developed countries ? and China ? clash over the need for the continent?s resources. Yet there are few serious books to help us understand any aspect of the never-ending cascade of wars and conflicts. Other titles on Nigeria are mostly children?s books or travel guides, with the exception of Daniel Jordan Smith?s A Culture of Corruption. The current work focuses specifically on the social tensions, the motivations and the methods of the series of coups that rent Nigeria.

The 12 September 1980 coup represented a \"milestone\" in Turkey, the consequences of which have shadowed the lives of the peoples of Turkey for more than thirty years. The coup was instrumental in the profound economic, political and social transformation of the country, while, on the other hand, it aimed at destroying any public opposition deemed likely to jeopardise the course of this transformation. The remembrance of the period as laden with experiences of profound transformation, alongsid.

Developments in International Law and Policy: Political Violence and the International Community considers how the international community practice of responding to political violence has influenced the international law perspective.

This pointedly satirical assessment of the governing skills of Napoleon set into motion a series of international scandals upon its initial publication in 1852. Author Victor Hugo had been living and working in Belgium when Napoleon the Little was published, but at the urging of King Leopold, the Belgian ruler, he left that country and took up residence on Jersey, an island under British rule. Readers who like their history with a stiff dose of wit will be well pleased. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

Myanmar in Crisis brings together scholars from across the social sciences to analyse the dual crises of COVID-19 and the 2021 military coup. All of the essays address one of four themes around the concept of crisis: society in crisis, a state in crisis, an economy in crisis, and international relations in crisis. Several authors examine the contested nature of state authority in the post-coup revolutionary context, including the emergence of new governance dynamics; others discuss heterogenous forms of resistance and the potential for building a more inclusive, just, and tolerant society in the future of Myanmar. The volume also explores the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and the coup and its devastating effects on people's lives and livelihoods: the authors provide a deep dive into the impacts of restrictive COVID-19 prevention measures on local communities, the growing livelihoods crisis since the coup, and the impacts of both crises on foreign trade and investment. Scaling up from that local perspective, the book also looks at Myanmar's history of foreign relations, the response of the international community to the coup and the challenges faced by foreign governments and regional bodies in navigating the deteriorating political situation. Held together, the volume highlights the ongoing state of crisis in Myanmar, its impact on society and the possibilities for recovery and reform, amidst a powerful new revolutionary movement. Beyond providing crucial insights to Southeast Asian area specialists, the book offers deep insights into the way that multiple crises interact, amplify one another, and open up possibilities for hope amidst tragedy.