Coup d'État Project

Coups d'État constitute an important subset of irregular transfers of political power that can have enduring consequences for a country's well-being. Despite this, social scientists have struggled to compile an inventory of coups that is global in scope, appropriately sourced, and effectively details the type of coup event that took place as well as the initiators of the coup.  The Cline Center’s Coup d’État Project fills this gap. It is the world’s largest global registry of failed and successful coups that documents and categorizes these events for every country in the world.   

Aclaración para usuarios de idioma español / Clarification for Spanish-Language Users

Español: Han circulado noticias erróneas en medios de comunicación en español que hacen referencia a un reporte inexistente del Proyecto sobre Golpes de Estado [Coup d’Ètat Project] del Centro Cline [Cline Center]. Estas noticias erróneas afirman falsamente que el Proyecto sobre Golpes de Estado ha documentado más de 300 casos de participación por parte del gobierno de los Estados Unidos en intentos de golpes de estado alrededor del mundo. El Centro Cline nunca ha llevado a cabo tal estudio, ni ha hecho o informado tal afirmación. Los registros de nuestro Proyecto Golpe de Estado si incluyen una variable que capta cuando uno o más gobiernos extranjeros han estado involucrados en un evento de golpe de estado, pero ninguno de esos registros identifica ni intenta identificar qué gobiernos en particular podrían haber estado involucrados.

English: Erroneous news stories have been circulating in Spanish-language media that refer to a non-existent report from the Cline Center’s Coup d’Ètat Project. These erroneous news stories falsely claim that the Coup d’Ètat Project has documented over 300 instances of the U.S. government’s involvement in coup attempts around the world. No such study has ever been undertaken by the Cline Center, nor has such any such claim ever been made or reported by the Cline Center. Our Coup d’Ètat Project records do include a variable that captures when one or more foreign governments have been involved in a coup event, but none of those records identify or attempt to identify which particular governments might have been involved.

The Coup d'État Project Dataset

Version 2.2.0 of the Coup d'État Project dataset encompasses 1094 coup events, including 458 realized coups, 374 attempted coups, and 262 coup conspiracies that occurred between 1945 and 2024.

• Dataset v2.2.0 - This version of the dataset improves on the data published in Janurary 2024 by adding new coup events and updating the coding of coup events that occurred in 2023 extending the period covered from 1945 to the end of 2024. This version of these data (v2.2.0) contains 1094 events (458 successful coups, 374 attempted coups and 262 coup conspiracies).

• Codebook v2.2.0 - This 17-page document describes the Cline Center's Coup d’État Project Dataset. The first section of this codebook summarizes the different versions of the data. The second section provides a succinct definition of a coup d’état used by the Coup d’État Project and an overview of the categories used to differentiate the wide array of events that meet the project's definition. It also defines coup outcomes. The third section describes the methodology used to produce the data.

Click here to see previous versions of Coup d'État Project Data

***Statement regarding the events that took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021*** (Updated Dec. 15, 2022)