A Quantitative Theory of Political Transitions∗ Lukas Buchheimy Robert Ulbrichtz August 28, 2019 Abstract We develop a quantitative theory of repeated political transitions driven by revolts and reforms. In the model, the beliefs of disenfranchised citizens play a key role in determining revolutionary pressure, which in interaction with preemptive reforms determine regime dynamics. We study the quantitative implications of the model by fitting it to data on the universe of political regimes existing between 1946 and 2010. The estimated model generates a process of political transitions that looks remarkably close to the data, replicating the empirical shape of transition hazards, the frequency of revolts relative to reforms, the distribution of newly established regime types after revolts and reforms, and the unconditional distribution over regime types. Keywords: Democratic reforms, quantitative political economy, regime dynamics, revolts, transition hazards. JEL Classification: D74, D78, P16. ∗This paper supersedes an earlier working paper titled \Dynamics of Political Systems." We would like to thank the managing editor, Mich`eleTertilt, four anonymous referees, Daron Acemoglu, Toke Aidt, Matthias Doepke, Christian Hellwig, Johannes Maier, Uwe Sunde, and various seminar and conference participants for valuable comments and suggestions. yLMU Munich, Schackstr 4/IV, 80539 Munich, Germany. E-mail:
[email protected]. zBoston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. E-mail:
[email protected]. 1 Introduction This paper develops a quantitative theory of political transitions based on the evolution of beliefs regarding the regime's strength. Traditionally, the literature has focused on explaining specific patterns of regime changes, focusing on isolated transition episodes.1 In this paper, we shift the focus to a macro perspective, aiming to account for a number of stylized facts in a unified framework.