Though coups are very common worldwide, we’ve never had one in the United States. Some of that is our political culture. We think of coups as things that happen in other, lesser nations — banana republics. But it’s also because a coup would be very hard to pull off in the United States.

In a coup, a relatively small number of plotters seize key institutions — the Presidential Palace, the state radio stations, the Defense Ministry, etc. — and then plan (or hope) to bring other actors to their side with promises of power or riches. But in the United States, the key institutions are widely dispersed.

Not only is the federal government divided into three branches, the executive, the legislative and the judiciary, but government in general is divided between the federal government and the states. And the 50 states, with governors, capitals and significant military forces of their own (the National Guard, the distinct State Guards, various law enforcement, etc.) are a very significant threat to coup plotters. Many would resist, and a plan that brought them all along wouldn’t be a coup but wholesale revolution.

In addition, the United States has a broad and diverse media operation — there’s no state broadcasting company to seize, and there’s lots of social media and Internet communication to deal with.