Constructing Coup d'Etat: Discourse legitimisation in Thailand and Turkey

Abstract

Contemporary societies overwhelmingly chose to organise themselves politically in the form of states, social constructs within which different groups are expected to behave consistently with generally accepted norms. Social constructs, however, are not immutable. Groups' behaviours within the state are fluid and may cause fundamental changes in the polity's organisation. This is the case of coups d'Etat, when armies overtake the bureaucratically established executive and assume direct control of the state. This research project adopts a new perspective towards the analysis of military coups. Based on a Constructivist approach to the dynamics occurring in the immediate aftermath of golpes, this research aims at improving our understanding of the phenomenon. Specifically, this paper will analyse how members of the army employ discourse legitimisation techniques to legitimise in front of the state's society their change of behaviour from law enforcement actors to policymakers. This research analysed and collected the broader sociological and political research over discourse legitimisation practices, collating them into a coherent framework to be employed in the analysis of during- and post-coups discourses. According to this framework, discourse legitimisation techniques occur at three different...