MUTINY MONITOR
A number of ongoing data projects related to various aspects of military rebellion (coups, coup attempts, mutiny, defection) are linked below. Data and other materials can be found on the individual project webpages. Updates to the data will be noted on the Arrested Dictatorship blog.
Global Instances of CoupsJonathan Powell
Clayton Thyne Salah Ben Hammou |
This is an ongoing data collection effort that documents attempted and failed coups from around the world. The project, initially started by Jonathan Powell and Clayton Thyne in 2008, originally documented events dating back to 1950. The current expansion of the data, primary undertaken by Jonathan Powell and Salah Ben Hammou, will make a number of major changes. This includes pushing the start date back to 1918. Further, by prioritizing the use of primary, historical, and non-English sources, the updated dataset will be greatly improved and will allow the exploration of many new research questions.
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Mutiny in Africa, 1950-2018Schiel, Rebecca, Jonathan Powell, Christopher Faulkner. 2021. Mutiny in Africa, 1950-2018. Conflict Management and Peace Science 38(4): 431-499. Ungated version.
Data: Excel |
The majority of literature on civil–military relations has focused on coups d’état. Yet, studying lesser forms of military insubordination can offer valuable insight into the true condition of states’ civil–military relations. This paper introduces a data collection effort on mutinies across Africa from 1950 to 2018, revealing several interesting trends. First, most African countries have experienced mutinies, with these events increasing in frequency in the post-Cold War period. Second, while mutinies rarely escalate into coups, they are associated with an increased likelihood of coups in the future. This dataset provides a useful tool to explore the complexity of states’ civil–military relations.
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Military Mutinies and Defections |
Military mutinies are critical to scholars’ collective understanding of civil–military relations. This article introduces a new dataset that systematically codes mutinies across all regions and conducts an exploratory analysis of these new data. The primary contribution made here is the introduction of a new dataset that provides scholars with a sample of mutinies across region, space, and time. The new Military Mutinies and Defections Database (MMDD) codes events of military indiscipline from 1945 to 2017. This dataset uses geocoding techniques that will enable scholars to explore the spatial patterns and diffusion associated with mutinies. The second contribution is the preliminary exploration of these new data. Of note, I demonstrate that over one-third of all mutinies are violent, 6% of mutinies are associated with civilian deaths, and anocracies are more likely to experience mutinies than democratic or autocratic counterparts. MMDD provides investigators with an exciting new tool to explore dimensions of military disloyalty.
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