This article examines associations between historical factors and whether or not autocratic regimes in 1972 later democratized after controlling for current characteristics. Many historical factors are not relevant, although European influence as measured by the fraction of the population...

Jones and Olken (JO; 2009) report that the outcome of an assassination attempt -- whether it is successful or not -- matters for political institutions. We question how these institutions are classified. Revisiting their methodology shows that their findings are generally robust to reasonable...