Love Ballads, Carnations, and Coups

This chapter sets the stage by introducing the democratic coup concept, using as an illustration the 1974 coup in Portugal that toppled the Estado Novo (New State) dictatorship. A democratic coup occurs when the domestic military, or a section of it, turns its arms against a dictatorship, temporarily takes control of the government, and oversees a transition to democracy. The transition ends with free and fair elections of civilians and the military’s retreat to the barracks. Of course a military coup itself is an undemocratic event. In a coup the military assumes power not through elections but by force or the threat of force. The term democratic refers to the regime type that the coup produces.