The Implications of ICT in Surviving a Coup d’État for a Popular Regime

Date

2019-05-03

Authors

Cruz, Miguel Andrés

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Worldwide access

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Abstract

An analysis of four cases has revealed that modern information and communication technology (ICT) provides an increasing advantage to popular regimes. The first two cases deal with coups that took place before modern ICT, and the second two with coups that took place after. For Algeria in 1961, the regime had, in addition to both enough popularity and legitimacy, the opportunity to make an appeal to the people with contemporary ICT. The regime's appeal kept support for the coup low enough to easily suppress it. The Turkish regime in 1980 had no popularity and chronic instability that was linked to a lack of legitimacy. Even if the regime had been able to reach out to the people, their appeal would have been ignored. Consequently, the regime fell. In Egypt in 2013, the regime had no popularity, and its legitimacy had worn out. The government reached out to the people using modern ICT, but their appeal fell on deaf ears. The coup ultimately succeeded. In Turkey in 2016, the regime had popularity, and legitimacy. In addition to the police and the military, the people answered the president's call to oppose the coup. This mobilization led to the defeat of the coup. Essentially, if the regime enjoys enough popularity and has the opportunity, ICT will facilitate outreach to the people that would, in turn, consolidate the position of the regime.

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Keywords

Coup d'état, Putsch, Turkey 1980, Algeria 1961, Egypt 2013, Turkey 2016

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