Forms of Autocracy Flashcards

Question

which scholar promotes the ethnic dimension of coup motivations?

Answer 1

Harkness, 2018

Answer 2

Kandeh, 2004

Answer 3

personalistic stems from structural, individualistic and historic conditions Decalo emphasises the importance of coup leaders’ idiosyncrasies and personal motivations in their decision to launch military coups

Answer 4

Zimbabwe 2017 coup Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander, General Chiwenga, and his impact on the trajectory of the 2017 Zimbabwean military coup Chiwenga regarded Mugabe as an obstacle to the achievement of his personal aims to govern Zimbabwe and therefore stood to lose the most amongst other military officers Chiwenga also had a sense of destiny about ruling, from his grandfather’s deathbed prophecy of leadership and paired with his ruthless political scheming, his decision to lead the coup made sense Tendi thinks this is just one of several important motivations, however, as it overlapped with more general issues such as Mugabe’s rising disregard for the liberation struggle ethos and actors and the erosion of Mugabe’s once-unwavering authority over generals - thinks it’s more about the ideological commitments to the liberation struggle in the case of Zimbabwe

Answer 5

in response to the Zimbabwe 2017 case Tendi thinks it is only one of several important motivations it overlapped with more general issues such as Mugabe’s rising disregard for the liberation struggle ethos and actors and the erosion of Mugabe’s once-unwavering authority over generals Tendi thinks it's more about the ideological commitments to the liberation struggle in the case of Zimbabwe

Answer 6

Tendi uses the Zimbabwe 2017 coup and outlines its four main motivations 1. military generals’ disgruntlement with Mugabe’s downgrading of 1970s liberation struggle actors and ethos in ZANU PF; 2. Mugabe’s weakening authority 3. the political aspirations of some generals; 4. insecurity in the military’s upper ranks caused by conditions of precarious tenure and fear of criminal prosecution Tendi argues that the coup wouldn't have happen without ideological conflict & the fact that Mugabe betrayed the liberation generation

Answer 7

AU is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the African continent

Answer 8

norm entrepreneur: an individual or an organisation that takes up a cause, and employs the necessary skills and resources to convince members of the group about the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the cause, with or without explicit incentives or enforcement mechanisms for conformers or deviators (Souare, 2014)

Answer 9

three main policy instruments: (Souare, 2014) 1. Lomé ‘Declaration on the Framework for an OAU Response to Unconstitutional Changes of Government’ (2000) 2. Constitutive Act of the AU (2002) 3. African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007)

Answer 10

in the context of a military coup, the AU publicly condemns it and calls for an immediate return to constitutional order as well as suspending the country concerned from all decision-making organs in the AU until the new authorities restore constitutional order (Souare, 2014) if this policy were perfect, the majority, if not all, military coups would be resolved quickly and the idea is that we would soon see a reduction in attempt coup numbers

Answer 11

Souare, 2014

Answer 12

Lomé Declaration might have had a deterrent effect on military coups, particularly in the first 4 years of its adoption, as there were only 2 successful cases (Souare, 2014) at least 4 differences point to a possible positive impact of the norm on the occurrence of military coups on the continent: (Souare, 2014) 1. since the adoption of the Lomé Declaration, all coup-born regimes have hastened to state their commitment to restore constitutional order as soon as possible 2. the 15 coup-born regimes between 1990 and July 2000 spent a total of 306 months in power before handing over office to either a transitional or an elected government 3. only 1 coup-born regime (Sierra Leone) was forced out of power prior to Lomé, whereas 5 regimes since Lomé were pressured to give up power either to the overthrown leader, the constitutional successor or to a consensual caretaker president within a month or less 4. since Lomé, unconstitutional regimes are required to restore constitutional order while suspended from the OAU/AU, which was never the case before

Answer 13

AU fails to provide an explicit definition of what exactly constitutes the successful restoration of constitutional order AU good at flexing its muscles over small countries (e.g. Sierra Leone) but not so much over bigger countries (e.g. Nigeria, Ethiopia, etc) so sanctions unevenly applied AU actions are contradictory (between a rock and a hard place) - how can it say need to reinstate dictator (Ali Bongo) who has broken UCG by being in power for 40 years but also needs to condemn military coup weakness of AU’s stick and carrot powers, which is important in giving teeth to the policy injunctions (Souare, 2014) - AU sanctions aren’t really a deterrent (poor, toothless) therefore EU sanctions more impactful (have more teeth) - AU’s over-reliance on international partners in this regard is a challenge to the success of its policy (difficult to enforce without powerful international actors)

Answer 14

as a result of the weaknesses of the AU enforcement powers, a space opens up for the reliance and importance of international partners in affecting the outcome of military coups the EU, individual European countries and the US are the main partners of the AU in enforcing its norms on governance and security EU measures happened within the framework of the AU’s International Contact Group (ICG) as a way to complement and strengthen its own efforts by enlisting more international partners - e.g. Western sanctions imposed on the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe since the mid-2000s

Answer 15

Mauritania Example (Engel, 2010) when the 2008 military coup in Mauritania overthrew the democratically elected government of Sidi Ould Cheick Abdallahi, it faced AU-imposed targeted sanctions and the leader of the coup, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, stepped down in July 2009 to be replaced by a caretaker president and elections. seemingly, this shows the strength of the AU sanctions but Engel argued that the Mauritanian authorities felt more threatened by the sanctions of the Eu than those of the EU thus showing the importance of powerful international actors in the success of the AU’s policies

Answer 16

vacuum created by France being driven out due to anti-French sentiment is being filled by growing support for Russia - Franco-African relationship is one rooted in the history of exploitation and has continued in new ways and different layers - e.g. French companies still heavily involved in the natural resource industry, operating Niger's uranium mines and extracting uranium for French nuclear power plants anti-French sentiment also stems from perceived failure of French intervention in the Sahel region - Sahel region is a belt under the Sahara desert stretching from Senegal and Mauritania in the West to Sudan and Eritrea in the East and is stronghold for armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIL - 43% of global terrorism deaths occurred in Sahel region - local people have not seen the benefit of French intervention that focuses on anti-terrorism and those on the ground have seen an increase in strength of the jihadi groups coup leaders have placed themselves against France to gain popular support and bolster their own credibility

Answer 17

Franco-African relationship is one rooted in the history of exploitation and has continued in new ways and different layers - e.g. French companies still heavily involved in the natural resource industry, operating Niger's uranium mines and extracting uranium for French nuclear power plants also stems from perceived failure of French intervention in the Sahel region - Sahel region is a belt under the Sahara desert stretching from Senegal and Mauritania in the West to Sudan and Eritrea in the East and is stronghold for armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIL - 43% of global terrorism deaths occurred in Sahel region - local people have not seen the benefit of French intervention that focuses on anti-terrorism and those on the ground have seen an increase in strength of the jihadi groups

Answer 18

no domestic forces entwined with workings of international norms international norms must always work their influence through the filter of domestic structures and domestic norms domestic norm entrepreneurs often use international norms to strengthen their position in domestic debates, even if their position is a minority one at home

Answer 19

coup leaders' idiosyncrasies and personal motivations concept of masculinity and the role of women in perpetuating military power

Answer 20

experiences of security are heavily gendered at all levels and security means different things to men and women (Mama, 1998) - feminine security centres around womanhood (marriage, motherhood, and service) - masculine security is displayed as sexual and monetary prowess and their command over other men, women and material resources military men exemplify the masculine ideal and from this, military coups and military regimes are a masculine thing

Answer 21

comparison between Mrs. Babangida and Mrs. Abacha, the wives of two military heads of state highlight the individual character differences and differences in actions and goals and yet the two regimes were still remarkably similar in that both wives treated women as a single homogenous category of people who benefit from military rule