Why has America never suffered a coup d'etat?

[paulagnes1745]

Uprisings, revolts, civil wars, rebellion etc. -> check

coup d'etat -> not yet, why?

What makes them so resilient to this?

And being blamed for numerous coups around the world, why hasn't the world staged one for America as revenge?

 

[Edric Streona]

For a coup you need political instability, a corrupt or morally outraged army, outside factions who can bank roll it, popular will....
non of these have ever existed in sufficient amounts.

 

[johnincornwall]

Also need a good supply of weapons - oops hang on a minute

 

[Dentatus]

You also need to understand the culture of the US Army, which is (at least always was) deeply, deeply NON-POLITICAL. A tradition that goes back to George Washington's quashing of the "Newberg Conspiracy" in 1783, and which was maintained even thru the crisis of the American Civil War (Even though there was lots of irresponsible talk in 1862-63).

Also, in the past, the US Army was never very large. The US Regular Army was way too small (and scattered literally "from hell to Texas") to try to seize the government in peacetime. When it expanded in wartime it did so via volunteering, conscription and mobilizing the National Guard ...all "citizen soldiers" (and voters) who were unlikely to blindly follow a cabal of Regular Army officers in usurping political power.

 

[aggienation]

The military senior officer corps has never been apolitical, coups have been talked about a few times but nobody had the courage to do it. Yet. Once that barn door opens, then its open.

Its like nuclear war, the only reason it hasn't happened is that it just hasn't happened. Once it happens once, it'll happen more. Precedence is a bitch.

 

[Chlodio]

Maybe we Americans have always been so skeptical of our government that we have no illusions that a different government will do a better job than the current one.

 

[Spike117]

Remember that our nation is only 242 years old (or there about). The Roman Republic lasted 482 years I believe before falling to the machinations of Caesar and Octavian. Like Aggie said, once it happens, the gate is open. Once Sulla proved it was possible, well, its life wasn't much longer.

There's a lot of factors that play into it, but if it ever happens successively, well, that's that.

 

[aggienation]

No republics last forever. If a military coup doesn't bring them down, something else does. Such is life, nothing lasts forever.

 

[Nemowork]

Uprisings, revolts, civil wars, rebellion etc. -> check

coup d'etat -> not yet, why?

What makes them so resilient to this?

And being blamed for numerous coups around the world, why hasn't the world staged one for America as revenge?

Because there hasnt been enough social unrest. the closest the US came was in the 1930s.

Also theres enough social opportunity that that even the most sociopathic can use democracy to get to the top in either industry or politics without resorting to excessive force.

 

[Dukhasinov]

If you`re talking about a military coup, we`ve been very careful to keep the military away from politics. Also, the top several layers of the military hierarchy are made up of civilian appointees, not General Officers. Also, Generals have no control over how soldiers are paid. That comes from all the way at the top in the DOD, so Generals can`t hand out fat bonuses to his troops to make them more loyal to him. Fortunately for us, an apolitical military is something deeply ingrained in our culture. If an active duty General started making public, inflamatory political statements, most Americans would feel queezy about it, even if they agreed with what he had to say. American political leaders have generally been quick to sack Generals who get too uppity, as well. Truman fired MacArthur when he started to buck, and even Obama sacked Stanley McCrystal over a bad Rolling Stone article.