When most people hear the word "putsch," they picture armed soldiers storming presidential palaces, their faces stern, weapons at the ready. Yet today's coups are often more discreet, and far less dramatic. Instead of uniforms and tanks, modern putsches may feature well-tailored politicians signing decrees under camera flashes, or technocrats quietly dismantling bureaucracies in the name of efficiency. In some cases, the heavy lifting is done by NGOs, whose influence subtly tilts the balance of power away from elected leaders towards unelected "experts."
The perception of what counts as a putsch is changing fast. Figures like Donald Tusk in Poland or Elon Musk at the helm of DOGE in the US represent a quieter kind of "constitutional coup," using decrees or corporate decisions to shift power without a single soldier in sight. At the same time, international observers struggle to label these events clearly, and whether they are legitimate often depends more on the story being told than on the facts themselves.
Musk, Tusk, and Dreams of Empire
The numbers tell an intriguing story. Between 1950 and 1989, during the Cold War era, the world saw around 242 coups—most featuring soldiers and dramatic force, according to the Cline Center Coup d’État Project. After 1990, military takeovers declined sharply, by over 60 per cent—a shift that curiously coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union. As one form of ideological certainty faded, a more procedural—and often subtler—method of regime change gained ground. "Constitutional coups" rose markedly, with at least 24 documented cases in Africa alone since 2002.
That trend has now clearly reached Western Europe. Since December 2023, Donald Tusk’s centre-left government in Poland has taken steps that many critics call a legal power grab. Acting under the banners of "militant democracy" and "transitional justice," the government has sacked public media leaders, arrested opposition politicians, and removed judges—moves widely seen as weakening judicial independence and media diversity. When asked about the legal basis for these actions, Justice Minister Adam Bodnar replied, "We will look for a legal basis later"—a telling remark that reflects a looser approach to legal norms. The Venice Commission has strongly criticised these actions, and the president of the Constitutional Tribunal has filed a formal complaint accusing Tusk of leading an unconstitutional takeover, prompting an official investigation in February 2025.
