Suchergebnisse

Sam Ikoku, a Nigerian maverick, was one of President Shagari's advisers when suddenly the December 1983 coup landed him in Kirikiri prison. Here is his genial account (now banned) of that moment

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. 'The Democratic Coup d'État' advances a simple yet controversial argument: Sometimes a democracy is established through a military coup. The work covers events from the Athenian Navy's stance in 411 BC against a tyrannical home government to coups in the American colonies that ousted corrupt British governors and to twentieth-century coups that toppled dictators and established democracy in countries as diverse as Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, and Colombia.

"A book that aids understanding how governments and states really work. That aim is pursued by presenting in full detail how a coup d'état would be planned and executed, from the first approach to fellow-conspirators, to the post-coup announcements promising a new era of progress and stability. Coup d' État has continued to find readers around the world--it has appeared in sixteen foreign languages--but with the passage of time, this fully revised new edition became necessary. Even readers who do not plan to use it as a practical handbook will find it interesting, as well as instructive."--Provided by publisher.