Zimbabwe
The coup that never was, and the election that could have been
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6029461 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicole Beardsworth (0000-0002-4796-1779), Nic Cheeseman (0000-0002-0922-7514), Simukai Tinhu (0009-0007-7961-1945) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 118 |
| Issue | 472 |
| Pages | 580-596 |
| Publication date | 2019-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-9909 • E-ISSN: 1468-2621 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/afraf/adz009 |
| OpenAlex | W2939095676 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 37 |
On 14 november 2017, the Zimbabwean military launched ‘Operation Restore Legacy' in a bid to force President Robert Mugabe out of office and facilitate a transfer of power to his former Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa. The intervention was triggered by Mugabe’s move to sideline senior military figures—including army chief Constantino Chiwenga—and to sack one of their closest political allies, Mnangagwa, just over a week earlier. The president justified this ‘night of the long knives' on the basis that some of the most influential figures in the country had been plotting to undermine his authority. However, ultimately Mugabe’s gambit only served to weaken his hold on power. In the three years that followed the 2014 ZANU-PF congress,1 the race to succeed Mugabe—who is now 95—had split the ruling party into two rival factions: ‘Lacoste’, led by Mnangagwa and with strong links to the military and key branches of the state; and the ‘G40’ (from Generation 40) group, a less coherent ragbag band of younger politicians that included several prominent Ministers and was associated with, but never effectively led by, the president’s second wife, Grace.2 For nearly four decades until late 2017, Mugabe had consistently performed a clever balancing act, playing one faction off against the other and fostering internal rivalries that kept all sides accountable only to the centre. However, when he removed Mnangagwa, the president effectively sided with G40, destabilizing the regime and thus setting in motion a course of action that would ultimately lead to his own downfall.
Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · State (computer science) · Wife · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Law
Democratic Backsliding in Africa?
From Dissent to Democracy
Arbitrary States
A New Zimbabwe? Assessing Continuity and Change After Mugabe
Authoritarian Survival and Leadership Succession in North Korea and Beyond
Zimbabweans behind the November 2017 coup
Soziale Bewegungen und Politik in Zimbabwe
The role of the church in the public space in Zimbabwe (2017–2023)
Disaster Governance in Conflict-Affected Authoritarian Contexts
The Strong ‘Weak State’
A critical assessment of Church and political engagement in Zimbabwe under the new dispensation
Regime enablers and captured religious mandate in Zimbabwe
From the Booth to the Dock
State–Civil Society Relations in Zimbabwe’s “Second Republic”
Legislative Framework for Civil Society in Zimbabwe’s “Second Republic”
A drive to regime change through nonviolent economic warfare
Staging the Zimbabwean ‘revolution’
A civilian coup? Bill 3, constitutional change and political re-engagement in Zimbabwe
The immigration of social workers
WhatsApp coup jokes and the dialogue on Zimbabwean politics
Zimbabwe
Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context
Mobilization Under Threat
The partisan consequences of liberation mentality
Negotiating national identity in postcolonial Zimbabwe through a national dress
The Anti-Authoritarian Populisms
Recall rules as a legalistic autocrat’s toolkit. The case of Zimbabwe
Three pandemics in post-2017 Zimbabwe
The elitist subaltern? Jonathan Moyo's tweets as a Machiavellian barometer of post-Mugabe Zimbabwean politics
Religious ideologies, legitimation, and citizenship in "second republic" Zimbabwe
Repression and Dissent in Moments of Uncertainty
Patterns of African Union Sanctions on Coups d'État
Intra-Party Cohesion in Zimbabwe's Ruling Party after Robert Mugabe
GodIsInIt
Movement for Democratic Change and the Rise of Nelson Chamisa
From 'Defending Sovereignty' to 'Fighting Corruption
Mugabe's Urban Legacy
| Unique citing works | 37 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6,17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 37 |