June 25, 2021 • 7 mins
A number of factors can contribute to a military taking over its government. Learn about them, and why it's unlikely to happen in the U.S., in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/coup.htm
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey Brainstuff.
Lauren Boglebaum here. On February one, the Myanmar military seized
control of the country's government, ousting it's democratically elected civilian leader.
The event sparked widespread resistance from the pro democracy electorate,
(00:23):
many of whom took to the streets to march in
peaceful protest. They were met with violence from the military regime.
To date, more than six hundred people, including women and children,
have been killed. Political turmoil like what's happening in Myanmar
is not new, but what occurred in the United States
at a Q and On affiliated event on mate a
(00:46):
Memorial Day was new. At the Four Godden Country Patriot
round Up conference in Dallas, former National Security Advisor Michael
Flynn suggested a coup should happen in the US When
responding to a question from an audience member who asked,
why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here. A former
(01:09):
U S National security advisor implying that the U S
military should overthrow the government, shocked and concerned many, including
Republican Representative Liz Cheney, who condemned Flynn's comments. The French
phrase coudta literally translates to blow of state in English,
a likening forced political seizure to a physical strike against
(01:31):
the government. It didn't enter the English lexicon until the
late seventeen hundreds, coinciding with several major political upheavals in France.
Who's differ from other forms of civil unrest like war, rioting,
and revolution in several ways. For example, unlike civil wars,
which can draw out for years, who's usually take place
(01:54):
in a single day, And unlike revolutions, which tend to
have broad majority support, coups are usually spearheaded by a
small group seeking political power. Finally, they also tended to
focus on an executive power, such as a president or
a prime minister, rather than the entire governmental apparatus. When
(02:16):
most people think of a coupa, they picture a violent
military uprising, something like Chile's bloody overthrow of President Salvador
Alliende in ninety three for revolt that cost an untold
number of lives in Mali. And although the majority of
these events do skew towards violence, not all coups involved bloodshed.
(02:38):
Napoleon's seventeen ninety nine capture of Paris for instance, reportedly
went off without a single death. So what leads to
a coup it depends from country to country. For the article,
this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke by
email with Brian class, An associate professor of Global politics
at University College London and host of the podcast Power Corrupts.
(03:02):
He said the drivers of a coup in a place
like Madagascar are very different from those in Thailand, for example,
but political chaos and dysfunction make coups more likely, and
the best coup predictor for any given country is whether
that country has a history of them. For example, after
gaining independence from Britain, Myanmar enjoyed fourteen years of democracy
(03:26):
before its first military coup in nineteen sixty two. A
procession of military leaders followed until eleven, when the country
transitioned back to a representative quasi democracy. However, the military,
evidently dissatisfied with the most recent election results, snatched power
back earlier this year. Another predictor is a country's economic status. Generally,
(03:50):
poorer countries tend to have more political unrest, which can
lead a small radicalized group to seek power. Four of
the current top five most poverished countries in the world
by gross domestic product being Burndi, South Sudan, the Central
African Republic, and Malawi have all experienced coup attempts in
the last decade, but it would be arnist to assume
(04:14):
that only poor nations are susceptible. After all, one of
history's most famous attempted coups, the assassination of Julius Caesar,
occurred near the height of the Roman Empire's power. Deep
political polarization can also precipitate a coup, especially if one
group feels that their interests are being excluded in the
election process. So with that in mind, could a coup
(04:39):
happen in the US? Experts say it's improbable, though not impossible.
Coups rarely happened in what political scientists have termed consolidated democracies,
where democratic institutions are deeply and firmly entrenched. Klaus said
the United States is a consolidated, albeit severely flawed democracy.
(05:01):
Three major factors contribute to the United States coup proofing.
The first is an independent court system. By and large,
U S courts are nonpartisan and beholden to judge, jury,
and legal president rather than a particular political party. This
holds true even for Supreme Court justices, who may be
appointed directly by a sitting president. Second is a military
(05:26):
chain of command. The president holds the highest rank in
the military as commander in chief. Every general answers to them,
and as an institution, respect for authority in the military
runs deep. But if corruption enters the hierarchy, there are
still checks in place. The soldiers have the right to
refuse orders that strike them as palpably illegal. Furthermore, U
(05:50):
S military personnel are not a completely homogenized group, as
people of any gender, racial background, sexual orientation, or political
persua Asian can and are encouraged to serve together. These
theoretically ensure that one political actor or party does not
achieve an unbreakable stranglehold over military power. Finally, there's the
(06:15):
sheer byzantine sprawl of the United States government. How stuff works.
Also spoke with Scott Anderson, a senior fellow with the
National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He said,
we have a highly decentralized system. It's actually fairly difficult
to hijack the system because you would need to hijack
lots and lots of parts. Some political scholars have argued
(06:39):
that the twenty fifth Amendment, which allows a sitting vice
president to take over for a president who has deemed
unfit for office, could amount to a non military coup
under the right circumstances. Other individuals have argued that the
Insurrection Act of eighteen o seven somehow provides a legal
loophole that would authorize the former president to command the military,
(07:00):
claim that Anderson calls complete nonsense. But democracy always needs
to stay vigilant. Once the ideas in the air, a
coup becomes marginally more possible, feeding the fears and false
beliefs of a small group of extremists. That's why, as
Claus says, quote Flynn's statement was extraordinarily dangerous. Today's episode
(07:27):
is based on the article what is accupata and is
the U S Coup Proof? On house to works dot
com written by Joanna Thompson. Brain Stuff is production of
iHeart Radio in partnership with hous toff works dot Com
and is produced by Tyler Clay. Four more podcasts my
heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey Brainstuff.
Lauren Boglebaum here. On February one, the Myanmar military seized
control of the country's government, ousting it's democratically elected civilian leader.
The event sparked widespread resistance from the pro democracy electorate,
(00:23):
many of whom took to the streets to march in
peaceful protest. They were met with violence from the military regime.
To date, more than six hundred people, including women and children,
have been killed. Political turmoil like what's happening in Myanmar
is not new, but what occurred in the United States
at a Q and On affiliated event on mate a
(00:46):
Memorial Day was new. At the Four Godden Country Patriot
round Up conference in Dallas, former National Security Advisor Michael
Flynn suggested a coup should happen in the US When
responding to a question from an audience member who asked,
why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here. A former
(01:09):
U S National security advisor implying that the U S
military should overthrow the government, shocked and concerned many, including
Republican Representative Liz Cheney, who condemned Flynn's comments. The French
phrase coudta literally translates to blow of state in English,
a likening forced political seizure to a physical strike against
(01:31):
the government. It didn't enter the English lexicon until the
late seventeen hundreds, coinciding with several major political upheavals in France.
Who's differ from other forms of civil unrest like war, rioting,
and revolution in several ways. For example, unlike civil wars,
which can draw out for years, who's usually take place
(01:54):
in a single day, And unlike revolutions, which tend to
have broad majority support, coups are usually spearheaded by a
small group seeking political power. Finally, they also tended to
focus on an executive power, such as a president or
a prime minister, rather than the entire governmental apparatus. When
(02:16):
most people think of a coupa, they picture a violent
military uprising, something like Chile's bloody overthrow of President Salvador
Alliende in ninety three for revolt that cost an untold
number of lives in Mali. And although the majority of
these events do skew towards violence, not all coups involved bloodshed.
(02:38):
Napoleon's seventeen ninety nine capture of Paris for instance, reportedly
went off without a single death. So what leads to
a coup it depends from country to country. For the article,
this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke by
email with Brian class, An associate professor of Global politics
at University College London and host of the podcast Power Corrupts.
(03:02):
He said the drivers of a coup in a place
like Madagascar are very different from those in Thailand, for example,
but political chaos and dysfunction make coups more likely, and
the best coup predictor for any given country is whether
that country has a history of them. For example, after
gaining independence from Britain, Myanmar enjoyed fourteen years of democracy
(03:26):
before its first military coup in nineteen sixty two. A
procession of military leaders followed until eleven, when the country
transitioned back to a representative quasi democracy. However, the military,
evidently dissatisfied with the most recent election results, snatched power
back earlier this year. Another predictor is a country's economic status. Generally,
(03:50):
poorer countries tend to have more political unrest, which can
lead a small radicalized group to seek power. Four of
the current top five most poverished countries in the world
by gross domestic product being Burndi, South Sudan, the Central
African Republic, and Malawi have all experienced coup attempts in
the last decade, but it would be arnist to assume
(04:14):
that only poor nations are susceptible. After all, one of
history's most famous attempted coups, the assassination of Julius Caesar,
occurred near the height of the Roman Empire's power. Deep
political polarization can also precipitate a coup, especially if one
group feels that their interests are being excluded in the
election process. So with that in mind, could a coup
(04:39):
happen in the US? Experts say it's improbable, though not impossible.
Coups rarely happened in what political scientists have termed consolidated democracies,
where democratic institutions are deeply and firmly entrenched. Klaus said
the United States is a consolidated, albeit severely flawed democracy.
(05:01):
Three major factors contribute to the United States coup proofing.
The first is an independent court system. By and large,
U S courts are nonpartisan and beholden to judge, jury,
and legal president rather than a particular political party. This
holds true even for Supreme Court justices, who may be
appointed directly by a sitting president. Second is a military
(05:26):
chain of command. The president holds the highest rank in
the military as commander in chief. Every general answers to them,
and as an institution, respect for authority in the military
runs deep. But if corruption enters the hierarchy, there are
still checks in place. The soldiers have the right to
refuse orders that strike them as palpably illegal. Furthermore, U
(05:50):
S military personnel are not a completely homogenized group, as
people of any gender, racial background, sexual orientation, or political
persua Asian can and are encouraged to serve together. These
theoretically ensure that one political actor or party does not
achieve an unbreakable stranglehold over military power. Finally, there's the
(06:15):
sheer byzantine sprawl of the United States government. How stuff works.
Also spoke with Scott Anderson, a senior fellow with the
National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He said,
we have a highly decentralized system. It's actually fairly difficult
to hijack the system because you would need to hijack
lots and lots of parts. Some political scholars have argued
(06:39):
that the twenty fifth Amendment, which allows a sitting vice
president to take over for a president who has deemed
unfit for office, could amount to a non military coup
under the right circumstances. Other individuals have argued that the
Insurrection Act of eighteen o seven somehow provides a legal
loophole that would authorize the former president to command the military,
(07:00):
claim that Anderson calls complete nonsense. But democracy always needs
to stay vigilant. Once the ideas in the air, a
coup becomes marginally more possible, feeding the fears and false
beliefs of a small group of extremists. That's why, as
Claus says, quote Flynn's statement was extraordinarily dangerous. Today's episode
(07:27):
is based on the article what is accupata and is
the U S Coup Proof? On house to works dot
com written by Joanna Thompson. Brain Stuff is production of
iHeart Radio in partnership with hous toff works dot Com
and is produced by Tyler Clay. Four more podcasts my
heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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