The democratic coup d'état / Ozan O. Varol.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Varol, Ozan O., 1981- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Coups d'état--History.

Coups d'état.

Democratization--History.

Democratization.

History.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

ix, 235 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017]

Summary:

" The term coup d'état--French for stroke of the state--brings to mind coups staged by power-hungry generals who overthrow the existing regime, not to democratize, but to concentrate power in their own hands as dictators. We assume all coups look the same, smell the same, and present the same threats to democracy. It's a powerful, concise, and self-reinforcing idea. It's also wrong. In The Democratic Coup d'État, Ozan Varol advances a simple, yet controversial, argument: Sometimes, a democracy is established through a military coup. Covering events from the Athenian Navy's stance in 411 B.C. against a tyrannical home government, to coups in the American colonies that ousted corrupt British governors, to twentieth-century coups that toppled dictators and established democracy in countries as diverse as Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, and Colombia, the book takes the reader on a gripping journey. Connecting the dots between these neglected events, Varol weaves a balanced narrative that challenges everything we thought we knew about military coups. In so doing, he tackles several baffling questions: How can an event as undemocratic as a military coup lead to democracy? Why would imposing generals-armed with tanks and guns and all-voluntarily surrender power to civilian politicians? What distinguishes militaries that help build democracies from those that destroy them? Varol's arguments made headlines across the globe in major media outlets and were cited critically in a public speech by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Written for a general audience, this book will entertain, challenge, and provoke, but more importantly, serve as a reminder of the imperative to question the standard narratives about our world and engage with all ideas, no matter how controversial. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note:

PART I : FROM SOLDIERS TO POLITICIANS

1. Love Ballads, Carnations, and Coups

2. The Romance of Democratic Transitions

3. In the Land of the Blind

4. Hogan's Heroes

5. A Different Type of Stroke

PART II : BRUTUS AND CASSIUS

6. Friends with Benefits

7. With Friends Like These

8. Musical Chairs

9. The Glorious Coup

PART III: PRAETORIANS AND GUARDIANS

10. An Army of Civilians

11. Meritocracy and Nepotism

12. The Enemy Within

13. Foreign Affairs

PART IV: AN ALLIANCE OF CONVENIENCE

14. Competition and Power

15. Freedom and Order

PART V: MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

16. A New Order

17. Golden Parachutes

18. Between Scylla and Charybdis

PART VI: SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

19. The Retreat

20. The Broken Promise

PART VII: HOW THIS ENDS

21. The Awakening

22. Hollow Hope

23. Horror Vacui

24. Synergy

25. Cincinnatus

Acknowledgments.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Varol, Ozan O., 1981- author. Democratic coup d'état

ISBN:

9780190626013

0190626011

9780190626020

019062602X

OCLC:

986236750