Introducing the Military Mutinies and Defections Database (MMDD),1945–2017

Abstract

Military mutinies are critical to scholars’ collective understanding of civil–military relations. This article introduces a new dataset that systematically codes mutinies across all regions and conducts an exploratory analysis of these new data. The primary contribution made here is the introduction of a new dataset that provides scholars with a sample of mutinies across region, space, and time. The new Military Mutinies and Defections Database (MMDD) codes events of military indiscipline from 1945 to 2017. This dataset uses geocoding techniques that will enable scholars to explore the spatial patterns and diffusion associated with mutinies. The second contribution is the preliminary exploration of these new data. Of note, I demonstrate that over one-third of all mutinies are violent, 6% of mutinies are associated with civilian deaths, and anocracies are more likely to experience mutinies than democratic or autocratic counterparts. MMDD provides investigators with an exciting new tool to explore dimensions of military disloyalty.