### Why Some Autocracies Endure, Others Collapse

Scholars have long puzzled over the stark differences in authoritarian longevity. This article examines all authoritarian regimes from 1900 to 2015 and finds a key pattern: revolutionary origins predict extraordinary durability.

### Revolutionary Roots Yield Resilience

Contrary to conventional wisdom, this research demonstrates that violent social revolutions paradoxically create stable autocracies. Examples include Russia (1917), China (1949), Cuba (1959), and Vietnam (1954).

### Building Lasting Institutions

Revolutionary regimes typically survive for over 50 years despite facing massive external pressure, chronic economic underperformance, and widespread policy failures.

### The Core Mechanism: Institutional Cohesion

The authors explain this durability through three key outcomes of revolutionary origins:

* Development of highly cohesive ruling parties

* Creation of powerful security institutions with unwavering loyalty

* Systematic dismantling of alternative power centers

This institutional transformation, forced by extraordinary military threats during the revolution itself, accounts for their remarkable staying power.