Time and Regime Change

Abstract

This chapter summarizes conclusions about the timing of regime change and focuses on transitions from authoritarian rule. After discussing the ways in which legislatures and parties are thought to extend the life of nondemocratic regimes, it argues that scholars have paid insufficient attention to the specific role of legislatures in authoritarian regimes in historical context. Conceptualizing regimes by combining information on electoral practices and legislatures, it explores temporal aspects of regime change and demonstrates the staying power of legislative authoritarian regimes. Contributions include providing an overview of the ways in which scholars have described temporal processes involving regime change and expanding our knowledge of the complementarity of political institutions in autocracies.