This chapter reviews the book's central questions and arguments, then summarizes the key findings, including the most notable features of each first interim government and how each one influenced later phases of transition. It then situates the study in a larger framework of political transitions. Finally, the chapter proposes a research agenda for examining the role of first interim governments more broadly, arguing that a more systematic compiling of evidence could provide additional insight into the precise parameters of this role: that is, the areas in which first interim governments can have the most influence and the actual extent to which they can shape the transition once they have completed their tenure.