the monkey cage - On the assumption that what matters most to political leaders is survival, Dustin Beckett and Gregory D. Hess argue, in essence, that leaders are motivated to immortalize themselves or at least to secure the future of their regime (abstract here). This motivation, in turn, leads them to try to influence the selection of their successor. From the leader’s perspective, trust in one’s presumed successor is vital, or else a successor might pull a Khrushchev by disassociating himself from the legacy of the leader. (I’m aware t...