Replication Data for Rethinking Coup Risk: Rural Coalitions and Coup-Proofing in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the Colonial Institutions & Ethnic Power Dataset, ethnic groups from twenty-five sub-Saharan countries are coded on how they were positioned during the latter stages of colonialism (by the end of WWII). The sample includes approximately half of all the countries from each sub-region, and all the major colonizers: Britain, France, Portugal, and Belgium. Four significant colonial interventions, well documented in the case literature, were identified that differentiated ethnic groups prior to independence: 1) groups that had more privileged access to colonial education, 2) groups that were more highly recruited into the military rank and file, 3) groups that were more highly recruited into colonial officer corps, and 4) groups given special administrative status. All coding of ethnic groups’ colonial positioning were based on primary and secondary sources. Two coders were used to ensure inter-coder reliability. Groups were only coded “one” if a minimum of three scholarly sources unequivocally identified them as dominant in one of the identified categories. Where there was no express identification, groups were coded “zero” for that category.