A self-coup, also called an autocoup (from Spanishautogolpe) or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power through illegal means through the actions of themselves and/or their supporters.[1] The leader may dissolve or render powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assume extraordinary powers. Other measures may include annulling the nation's constitution, suspending civil courts, and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.[2][3]
From 1946 to the beginning of 2021, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts took place, 110 in autocracies and 38 in democracies.[4]
^Chin, John J; Carter, David B; Wright, Joseph G (2021). "The Varieties of Coups D'état: Introducing the Colpus Dataset". International Studies Quarterly. 65 (4): 1040–1051. doi:10.1093/isq/sqab058. ISSN0020-8833.
^Tufekci, Zeynep (December 7, 2020). "This Must Be Your First". The Atlantic. In political science, the term coup refers to the illegitimate overthrow of a sitting government—usually through violence or the threat of violence. The technical term for attempting to stay in power illegitimately—such as after losing an election—is self-coup or autocoup, sometimes autogolpe
^Maidanik, K. L. (Summer 2000). «He-запад»: современный транзит и перспективы демократизации ["Non-West": modern transition and prospects for democratization] (PDF). Полития (in Russian). 2 (16): 100. В последнее десятилетие – чуть ли не впервые за полтора века – в регионе не произошло ни одного успешного военного переворота. Имели место, правда, один «самопереворот» (президент разогнал парламент) и один случай переноса выборов. [In the last decade – almost for the first time in a century and a half – there has not been a single successful military coup in the region. There has, however, been one 'self-coup' (the president dissolved parliament) and one case of postponed elections.]
^Pedrosa, Fernando; Noce, Cecilia; Povse, Max (2021). Desafíos actuales de Asia oriental [Current challenges in East Asia] (in Spanish). Eudeba. ISBN9789502331188.
^Barry S. Levitt (2006), "A Desultory Defense of Democracy: OAS Resolution 1080 and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, Latin American Politics and Society, Volume 48, Issue 3, September 2006, Pages: 93–123. pp104-5
^Harvey, Michael (2022). "Introduction: History's Rhymes". In Harvey, Michael (ed.). Donald Trump in Historical Perspective. Routledge. p. 3. doi:10.4324/9781003110361-1. ISBN978-1-003-11036-1. As with the Beer Hall Putsch, a would-be leader tried to take advantage of an already scheduled event (in Hitler's case, Kahr's speech; in Trump's, Congress's tallying of the electoral votes) to create a dramatic moment with himself at the center of attention, calling for bold action to upend the political order. Unlike Hitler's coup attempt, Trump already held the top of the office, so he was attempting to hold onto power, not seize it (the precise term for Trump's intended action is a 'self-coup' or 'autogolpe'). Thus, Trump was able to plan for the event well in advance and with much greater control, including developing the legal arguments that could be used to justify rejecting the election's results.
^Castañeda, Ernesto; Jenks, Daniel (April 17, 2023). Costa, Bruno Ferreira; Parton, Nigel (eds.). "January 6th and De-Democratization in the United States". Social Sciences. 12 (4). MDPI: 238. doi:10.3390/socsci12040238. ISSN2076-0760. What the United States went through on January 6th was an attempt at a self-coup, where Trump would use force to stay as head of state even if abandoning democratic practices in the U.S. Some advised Trump to declare martial law to create a state of emergency and use that as an excuse to stay in power.
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