A Military coup is a violent overthrow of the government by the military. It is usually accompanied by a declaration of martial law. During this time, the military assumes all executive, legislative, and judicial power. This allows the junta to impose their will on their country and rewrite the political system.
In recent decades, coups have declined due to the many risks that they entail for would-be despots. Such risks include foreign intervention, economic sanctions, and growing internal resistance from civilian institutions that support democracy. To mitigate these risks, many would-be dictators opt to rig elections and use state institutions to seize power rather than attempting a outright military coup.
The generals of Myanmar’s Tatmadaw seem to be falling into this trap. The junta’s insistence on extending its year-long state of emergency and declaring martial law in 37 additional townships indicates that they are not ready for elections. They have also written into the constitution what some commentators have called a “coup clause in waiting”-an article that gives them at least 25 percent of parliament seats and control over who heads the three most important ministries.
New democracies often struggle with empowered militaries. One way to deal with them is to marginalize them by giving them too few material and political resources to stage a coup. However, this strategy has the disadvantage of delaying the transition to democracy. It can take years for new legislation to cut off aid to a junta, and even longer for them to agree to hold elections.