lecture 3

Question 1

ways of autocratic regimes beginning (with %)

Answer 1

45% Coups:
16% Foreign conquest or imposition:
15% Authoritarianisation:
14% Insurgents:
5% Popular uprisings:
5% Autocratic elites

Question 2

what explains coups

Answer 2

• military officers are the agents of economic elites
• personal interests of officers

Question 3

operationalisation of coup theories:

Answer 3

military officers as agents: more likely when protests and civil unrest

personal interests (more likely):
hard to measure, use proxies (e.g. military spending, ethnic heterogeneity)

Question 4

svolik (2012) argument for coups

Answer 4

1. moral hazard (Soldiers are v important, can demand privileges)
2. bargaining between gov and military fails

Question 5

Escalation and therefore military coups are more likely in:

Answer 5

Military dictatorships (institutional integrity is already lost)
New democracies (popular support emboldens incumbent)

Question 6

conclusion of svoliks argument

Answer 6

Military officers and therefore coups are primarily motivated by their own interests.

They can ally with other groups just as any other political actor can, but they do not routinely represent any societal interest.