How do authoritarian regimes evolve over time? This class will constrast weo perpectives on the evolution and change in authoritarian regimes - one highlighting their durability and persistence (with autocracies reproducing themselves in spite of historical changes and discontinuities) and one pointing out fluidity and constant of rulers. We will, from an interdisciplinary perspective, review both persistence and fluidity arguments, look a typical changes autocracies experience over time (political cycles, stability and instability of regimes and succession crises) and draw conclusions about our ability to predict change and persistence of authoritarian rule.