First, it suggests that a long history of statehood might have shifted the bargaining power toward the ruler in control of the state apparatus: Just as indigenous state development allowed rulers to fend off Europeans, it must have also facilitated the repression of internal opposition.2 Second, it shows that even if state building can create a long-run impetus to parliamentarism by unleashing a fiscal bargaining game, this effect cannot be very strong outside Europe.3 Specifically, it is dominated by the negative effect of having kept Europeans away or having been colonized with indirect rule. Third, this analysis shows that even if statehood is a necessary condition for democracy, outside the European continent, early statehood has not been conducive to democracy.