Coups and nascent democracies: the military and Egypt's failed consolidation. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bou Nassif, Hicham
• Is Part Of: Democratization. Volume 24:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 157
• Page End: 174
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Nascent democracies -- consolidation -- coups -- armed forces -- Egypt; Democracy -- Periodicals; Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals; Democratization -- Periodicals; 321.8
• DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2016.1142533
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-0347

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Why do coups happen in some nascent democracies but not in others? To answer this question, I probe four interconnected variables in democratizing regimes: the military's ethos; the military's corporate interests; the military's perception of the new civilian ruling elite; and the correlation of force between the military and the founding democratic government. My argument is twofold: first, I maintain that ideational variables are central to shaping the military's political behaviour; and second, I argue in favour of merging insights from cultural, corporate, and structural theories to understand the consolidation, or breakdown, of nascent democracies.