Constructing convincing legitimacy claims is important for securing the stability of
authoritarian regimes. However, extant research has struggled to systematically analyse …

Accountability—constraints on a government's use of political power—is one of the
cornerstones of good governance. However, conceptual stretching and a lack of reliable …

The responsiveness of policy to election results is a central component of democracy. Do the
outcomes of autocratic elections also affect policy choice? Even when the threat of turnover …

While dictatorships perform worse than democracies in respect for most human rights, a
large number of autocracies have prioritized the advancement of women's rights. We …

This study tests the relationship between democracy and population health. Some studies
argue that democracies are more likely than authoritarian regimes to provide public goods …

While a large literature suggests an important role for political parties in development, this
article is the first attempt to layout and test a comprehensive theory connecting parties to …

This study attempts to reconcile competing positions in an important debate about the
relationship between regime type and human development. We contend that this empirical …

Paradoxically, many dictators agree to institutionalized succession rules even though these
rules could regulate their removal from office. This study shows that succession rules, like …

Autocrats cannot rule by repression and co-optation alone, and need to instil some sense of
legitimacy in the populace. Lacking democratic legitimacy, and being in shortage of other …

A large body of literature investigates whether increasing the number of women in legislative
office translates into policies that benefit women in society. This research builds upon …