This paper investigates the impact of urban protests on coup attempts in a sample of 39 Sub- Saharan African countries for the period 1990 to 2007. Widespread public discontent, especially when occurring in urban centers, can act as a trigger of coups d'état in autocratic regimes by opening a...

When a society overthrows a ruler - call the ruler Caesar - what determines whether Caesar is killed or enslaved? This paper presents a model of killing versus enslaving Caesar, based on a new theory which unifies justice, status, and power. The model pertains to societies which value ordinal...

This paper examines the impact of the failed coup d'état attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, on people's happiness, life satisfaction, and trust and finds that the plot had a significant negative effect on all three variables. This paper is the first to show that coups d'état can have a...

This paper examines the impact of the failed coup d'état attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, on people's happiness, life satisfaction, and trust and finds that the plot had a significant negative effect on all three variables. This paper is the first to show that coups d'état can have a...

Although coup risk plays an important role in theories of war, revolution, and democratization, scholars have not developed a rigorous conceptualization and valid measure of the concept. We develop a structural understanding of coup risk as distinct from proximate causes of coups as well as...

In this article, I move beyond prior efforts to explore the relationship between the risk of a coup and international conflict by considering alternatives that leaders can utilize to strengthen their regimes. I offer two theoretical expectations. First, I theorize that leaders lose the incentive...

Previous studies have attested to leaders “coup-proofing†their regimes by reducing the ability or disposition of their armies to seek their removal. The following article tests the utility of these efforts. “Structural†coup-proofing such as counterbalancing is expected to...