%0 Journal Article %J American Journal of Political Science %D 1990 %T A Unified Model of Cabinet Dissolution in Parliamentary Democracies %A Gary King %A James Alt %A Nancy Burns %A Michael Laver %X The literature on cabinet duration is split between two apparently irreconcilable positions. The attributes theorists seek to explain cabinet duration as a fixed function of measured explanatory variables, while the events process theorists model cabinet durations as a product of purely stochastic processes. In this paper we build a unified statistical model that combines the insights of these previously distinct approaches. We also generalize this unified model, and all previous models, by including (1) a stochastic component that takes into account the censoring that occurs as a result of governments lasting to the vicinity of the maximum constitutional interelection period, (2) a systematic component that precludes the possibility of negative duration predictions, and (3) a much more objective and parsimonious list of explanatory variables, the explanatory power of which would not be improved by including a list of indicator variables for individual countries. %B American Journal of Political Science %V 34 %P 846–871 %8 August %G eng