Is a coup attempt a form of revolution...

[DarkPhenyx]

...or is it something else? Does the use of the military by a small group of extremists inside the Government equate to the same thing as the people rising up to overthrow what they percieve as an oppressive regieme? If a coup can be, but is not always, a revolution then how do we know the difference?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. 2000 was a coup (coup d'état)

from www.m-w.com:
Main Entry: coup d'état
Variant(s): or coup d'etat /"kü-(")dA-'tä, 'kü-(")dA-", -d&-/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural coups d'état or coups d'etat /-'tä(z), -"tä(z)/
Etymology: French, literally, stroke of state
: a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially : the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group

http://www.coup2k.com

[Gman]

2. A coup attempt is an attempt at a revolution

if the small group is trying to overthrow the government, then its a coup attempt or attempt at revolution. A coup is always a revolution or attempted revolution.

[AP]

5. I think of a revolution as stepping forward. Going from monarchy to...

... democracy or from fascism to democracy is a revolution.

But going backwards -- from democracy to fascism -- isn't a revolution, which is what most coups do. Chavez's attempted coup for democracy was a rarity.

Also, holding steady isn't really a revolution. Pakistan's coup was just holding steady -- going from corruptocracy to militocracy.

[Gman]

6. Technically...

a revolution could be defined as a change in government that is outside the prescribed methods (if any) for that country. A classic example is the coup pulled off by the theft of the election here in '00. In this example the prescribed method is a lawful election. That didn't happen because of the coordinated effort of the GOP in FL to deny every vote being counted and the SCOTUS.

[Warpy]

3. Definitions?

A revolution has its roots at the bottom, with a huge group of people who band together to throw off oppression, peacefully or violently.

A coup, on the other hand, has its origins at the top, with one faction of the ruling class ousting the faction in power, again peacefully or violently.

2000 was a coup, and the people had little to say about the outcome.

Let's hope 2004 is the beginning of a revolution.

[xchrom]

7. did the american revolution have a majority

consensus?

[DivinBreuvage]

8. Good point... it didn't, and neither did the Russian revolution.

The conventional thinking on the American Revolution is that 1/3 of the populace supported it, 1/3 supported the king, and 1/3 didn't care or went from one side to the other as fortunes shifted (sort of like our current political divisions in America).

The historian Richard Ketchum, however, in "The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton" looks at the percentage of American men who actually took up arms to support either the patriot or loyalist side and argues that the number of Americans who played any substantial role one way or the other was miniscule. He mused that perhaps dramatic world-historical changes are effected by a small group of highly committed people rather than by large masses of support. I'd post the passage but unfortunately don't have the book at hand here.

[AP]

4. In Venezuela, in the early 90s, Chavez attempted a coup against a fascist

government. If he had succeeded, that would have been a revoluton.

He was jailed and released. He started a political party, and he built his revolution on electoral victory after electoral victory instead.