The personalist effect on institutional change after assassinations

• Main Author: Lee, Justina Xin Yi
• Other Authors: Azusa Katagiri
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150676
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The effects of assassinations are not all made equal. In some instances, assassinations can lead to sustained moves towards democracy. Using a combination of the dataset by Jones and Olken (2009) and Weeks (2012), this paper explores the differences in the effects of assassinations on personalistic and non-personalistic regimes. The statistical analysis shows that on average, successful assassinations of personalistic regimes produce sustained moves toward democracy. The results inform leadership and institutional change literature, showing that differences in institutions and succession mechanisms between personalist and non-personalist regimes result in substantial differences in institutional change between personalistic and non-personalistic autocratic regimes after a successful assassination.