A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The leader may dissolve or render powerless the national

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

and unlawfully assume extraordinary powers. Other measures may include annulling the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, suspending

civil courts A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a Civil law (common law), civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws s ...

, and having the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

assume

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

ial powers. From 1946 to the beginning of 2021, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts took place, 110 in

autocracies Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with democracy and feudalism. ...

and 38 in

democracies Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

List of self-coups

* : President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte ( December 2, 1851) * : President

Juan Lindolfo Cuestas Juan Lindolfo de los Reyes Cuestas (6 January 1837 – 21 June 1905) was a Uruguayan politician who served as the 18th President of Uruguay from 1897 until 1899 and for a second term from 1899 to 1903. Background Juan Lindolfo Cuestas was a prom ...

(February 10, 1898) * : Chancellor

Engelbert Dollfuss Engelbert Dollfuss (alternatively Dollfuß; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian politician and dictator who served as chancellor of Federal State of Austria, Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and ...

( March 15, 1933) * : Chancellor

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

( March 23, 1933 / August 2, 1934) * : President

Gabriel Terra José Luis Gabriel Terra Leivas (August 1, 1873 – September 15, 1942) was a Uruguayan lawyer and statesman who served as the 26th constitutional president of Uruguay from 1931 to 1933 and as dictator until 1938. He led a traditionalist and ...

(March 31, 1933) * : Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts ( – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president from 1938 to 1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades p ...

( March 12, 1934) * : King

Michael I of Romania Michael I ( ; 25 October 1921 – 5 December 2017) was the last King of Romania, reigning from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and again from 6 September 1940 until his forced abdication on 30 December 1947. Shortly after Michael's birth, his f ...

( August 23, 1944) * : President

Mamerto Urriolagoitía Mamerto Urriolagoitía Harriague (; 5 December 1895 – 4 June 1974) was a Bolivian lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact n ...

( May 16, 1951) * : Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad ( April 1953 – September 21, 1954) * : President

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

( July 5, 1959) * : President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

( September 23, 1972) * : President

Park Chung Hee Park Chung Hee (; ; November14, 1917October26, 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until Assassination of Park Chung ...

( October 17, 1972) * : President

Juan María Bordaberry Juan María Bordaberry Arocena (; 17 June 1928 – 17 July 2011), was an Uruguayan politician and cattle rancher who served as the 34th President of Uruguay from 1972 until his resignation in 1976 and the 1st President of the Civic-Military Dic ...

( June 27, 1973) * : President

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

( April 5, 1992) * : President

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

( September 21, 1993) * : Prime Minister

Hun Sen Samdech Hun Sen (; , Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military officer who currently serves as the List of presidents of the Senate (Cambodia), president of the Senate. He previous ...

( July 1997) * : President

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

( March 29, 2017) * : President

Martín Vizcarra Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo (; born 22 March 1963) is a Peruvian engineer and politician who served as President of Peru from 2018 to 2020. Vizcarra Martín Vizcarra's governorship of Moquegua, previously served as List of regional governor ...

( 30 September 2019) * : Prime Minister

Muhyiddin Yassin Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Mohd Yassin (; ), is a Malaysian politician who served as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2020 to 2021. Appointed as prime minister amid a 2020–2022 Malay ...

( 29 February 2020) * : President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

( July 4, 2020) * : President

Nayib Bukele Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez (; born 24 July 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who has served as the 81st president of El Salvador since 2019. In 1999, Bukele established an advertising company and worked at an advertising com ...

( May 1, 2021) * : President

Kais Saied Kais Saied ( ; born 22 February 1958) is a Tunisian politician, jurist and retired assistant professor of law currently serving as the fifth president of Tunisia since October 2019. He was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional ...

( July 25, 2021) * : Chairman of the Sovereignty Council

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman al-Burhan (; born 11 July 1960) is a Sudanese army general who has been the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Sudan, leader of Sudan since 2019. Following the Sudanese revolution, Sudanese Revolution in Ap ...

( October 25, 2021)

Notable events described as attempted self-coups

* : President

Jorge Serrano Elías Jorge Antonio Serrano Elías (born April 26, 1945) is a Guatemalan industrial engineer and politician who served as the 41st president of Guatemala from January 14, 1991 to June 1, 1993. He attempted a self-coup in May 1993 to stay longer in po ...

( May 25 – June 5, 1993)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 * : President

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; né ad-Dakhil, 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islam in Indonesia, Islamic Kyai, religious leader who served as the fourth president of Indone ...

( July 1–25, 2001) * : Prime Minister

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who was respectively the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. He was the ...

( February 23 – March 1, 2020) * : President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

( November 4, 2020 –

January 6, 2021 On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...

; after election loss) * : President

Pedro Castillo José Pedro Castillo Terrones (; born 19 October 1969) is a Peruvian politician, former elementary school teacher, and union leader who served as the President of Peru from 28 July 2021 until Third impeachment and removal of Pedro Castillo, he ...

( December 7, 2022) * : President

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

( October 30, 2022 – December 31, 2022; January 8, 2023; after election loss) * : Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

( ongoing events, since he assumed office on December 29, 2022) * : President

Yoon Suk Yeol Yoon Suk Yeol (; born 18 December 1960) is a South Korean politician and former prosecutor who served as the 13th president of South Korea from 2022 until Impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, he was removed from office in 2025. The shortest-serving ...

( December 3–4, 2024) * : President

( ongoing events, since he assumed office on January 20, 2025) * : President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

(ongoing events culminating in the

arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu On 19 March 2025, Mayor of Istanbul, Istanbul mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu from the opposition Republican People's Party was Detention (confinement)#Turkey, detained by General Directorate of Security (Turkey), Turkish police ...

List of self-coups

Notable events described as attempted self-coups

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links