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Abstract

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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All data, replication materials, and instructions regarding analytical materials upon which published claims rely are available online through the SAGE CMPS website: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0738894221934882

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Published In

Article first published online: July 9, 2020
Issue published: July 2021

Keywords

  1. Africa
  2. coup
  3. civil–military
  4. mutiny

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© The Author(s) 2020.
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Authors

Affiliations

Rebecca Schiel
University of Central Florida & Chr. Michelsen Institute, USA
Jonathan Powell
University of Central Florida, USA

Notes

Rebecca Schiel, University of Central Florida & Chr. Michelsen Institute, 4297 Andromeda Loop Blvd, Orlando, FL 32816-2368, USA. Email: [email protected]

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