Peace and Violence in the Game of Thrones

Leadership transitions are inevitable; peaceful transitions are not. How can societies ensure that power changes hands without violence? In his dissertation, Why Institutions Fail: Understanding Peace and Violence in the Game of Thrones, PhD student Daniel Lowery examines how monarchs in Europe and Asia transferred power across the centuries, identifying the conditions most likely to result in peaceful successions. He also explores how repeated power struggles slowed the process of building stable governments and led to differences in how political systems developed over time. Lowery argues that his work has important implications for present-day societies hoping to avoid conflict—and authoritarian rule.