Decolonization and Dictatorships?

Colonisation has been a major influence on the majority of the globe, be it those who are the colonisers, and those who have been colonised. Through the past century these colonist ties were lost through various forms of change such as revolution, and independent states were established. Within these environments of political change and instability is it more likely than not for a dictatorship to be established? Put simply I am interested to know if there is any correlation between decolonisation and dictatorships. I am questioning this because decolonisation is often established through revolution, or in some cases violent revolt or a war of independence, with a large support for a single party. Arguably this is a prime environment for a dictatorship to emerge.

I thought that I should use an example close to home, East Timor, a dispute in which New Zealand has been involved. Colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, what was known as Portuguese Timor declared independence in 1975 only to be occupied by Indonesia later that year. In 2002 East Timor declared independence once again, only this time becoming a sovereign state. While East Timor maintains regular free and fair elections the president has power to veto legislation, but by all means East Timor can be defined as a democracy. However, the state has been plagued by a number of failed military coups. This is also true in the globes newest states Serbia and Montenegro, although still maintain democracies.

However, in contrast to East Timor there are examples of African nations like Zimbabwe, Eritrea and Djibouti that have been plagued by dictatorships since their independence in the 1980s and 1990s. So is there a correlation between decolonisation and dictatorships? Although there may be no conclusive evidence, what is often a fight for independence does create a lot of political instability, and support for one party that is often military based. This creates an environment in which it could be possible for a dictatorship to emerge and establish power.