Graeme B. Robertson, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill; graeme@email.unc.edu; Grigore Pop-Eleches, Princeton University; gpop@princeton.edu
Abstract: Using a global dataset spanning the post-Cold War period (1992-2012) we analyze the drivers of political revolutions within the broader context of other significant events that affect political regimes, including incumbent-led political liberalizations as well as movements towards greater authoritarianism in the form of coups or incumbent-led authoritarian crackdowns. In particular, we want to understand why similar political challenges - such as elections or popular protests - may result in very different modes of political change. In doing so, we focus on the interaction between the political logic of pre-existing regime types and different types of structural conditions constellations.
