Self-coup

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Cavalry in the streets of Paris during the French coup of 1851, whereby the democratically-elected President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte seized dictatorial power. A year later he was crowned Emperor of the French.

A self-coup (or autocoup) is a form of putsch or coup d'état in which a nation's leader, despite having come to power through legal means, dissolves or renders powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assumes extraordinary powers, not granted under normal circumstances. Other measures taken may include annulling the nation's constitution and suspending civil courts. In most cases the head of government becomes a dictator.[citation needed]

List of self-coups

See also

Emperor Palpatine - A fictional example from Star Wars.

References