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Explaining African Coups d'Etat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Robert W. Jackman ,
Rosemary H. T. O'Kane ,
Thomas H. Johnson ,
Pat McGowan  and
Robert O. Slater
Robert W. Jackman
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Rosemary H. T. O'Kane
Affiliation:
University of Keele
Thomas H. Johnson
Affiliation:
The Orkand Corporation
Pat McGowan
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Robert O. Slater
Affiliation:
Defense Intelligence College
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Abstract

Comparative political analysts seek empirical generalizations which will hold water across systems and over a period of time. Yet, modeling important political phenomena over more than a handful of countries is still rather unusual. One focus for substantial comparative research has been the coup d'état—an irregular change of governmental leadership by force—in African countries. Scholars who have engaged in this research find they have various conceptual and methodological differences of opinion. In this Controversy, Robert Jackman and Rosemary O'Kane raise the issues in dispute. Their contentions are answered by Thomas Johnson, Pat McGowan, and Robert Slater. The exchange highlights important research issues without necessarily resolving them.

Type
Controversies
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 80 , Issue 1 , March 1986 , pp. 225 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1986

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