What Exactly is a Coup?
There is some disagreement.
--
In the wake of the incidents at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6th, 2021, there has been some debate whether it was an attempted coup or “merely” a protest/election related violence. To prevent such incidents in the future and address the issues that caused it; it is important to understand fully and correctly categorize what happened.
So was it an attempted coup or not?
The first most basic definition of a coup is the “ sudden seizure of power”. Were those in attendance all just protesting, or was this an attempt at taking power? The timing was no accident. They entered the building with the purpose of stopping Vice-President Pence from counting and officially certifying the results of the election.
How do we know this? At least some of the perpetrators have proudly told us this was their intention. The were there to stop the handover of power from their chosen politician to the next duly elected politician.
Clear attempted coup.
Some have argued they had no chance of success, so it was not a coup. However, the likeliness of success has no bearing on the issue. Was there intent or not when they went into the Capitol building? Yes, there was.
Clear attempted coup.
Most definitions add “illegal” to the mix. So were their intentions legal or illegal? When there is a disagreement about an election, the election authorities must be notified and if they do not take action then law enforcement and the courts must be involved. Clearly their views have been rejected by both election authorities and courts. Trespassing and violently disrupting the legal transfer of power is not in the realm of legality.
Clear attempted coup.
Some people have insisted that “violent” must be added to the definition of a coup. Although coups are often violent or the threat of violence hangs over them, a coup does not necessitate violence. The fact that we often use adjectives such as “bloodless coup” or “violent coup” implies that we all understand that coups sometimes do not include violence.
In addition, this coup was violent, at least to a certain extent. Certainly it could have been much worse, but we…
