Gender, militaries, and coups during nonviolent uprisings in nondemocracies

An impressive number of studies demonstrate the relationship between a country’s gender relations and its propensity for conflict. Recently, scholars have argued women’s roles matter for the onset, repression, and outcome of nonviolent uprisings. In this article I extend the attention to military responses. I explore how societies that exclude women from public spaces tend to have militaries that are masculinist—they understand themselves as protectors of a social order where men are distinct and superior to women and have material status tied to it. Because uprisings challenge that social order, such militaries are more likely to respond by seizing power. I find evidence for the relationship with a statistical analysis of anti-regime uprisings in nondemocracies from 1945-2014 and case studies of Sudan and Algeria in 2019. This research provides a new lens on militaries during uprisings, with implications for the success of movements for democratization and gender equality.