tion of October 1917, and the Chinese (Communist)
revolution of 1949. Leading revolutionary leaders
include Thomas JEFFERSON, Robespierre, Oliver CROM-
WELL, V.I. LENIN, and MAO TSE-TUNG.
Most revolutions include three components: (1) the
collapse of the established system (through financial
bankruptcy, defeat in war, loss of public confidence,
ineffectiveness in governing); (2) a struggle for control
of the state (by former rulers, new RADICALS, alternative
groups using electoral machinery, military warfare,
alignment with foreign nations); and (3) the establish-
ment of new institutions of government, political par-
ties, LAWs, ownership of PROPERTY, education, and
customs. The forms and time of these revolutionary
occurrences vary widely in history, making prediction
of the outcomes of social revolutions extremely prob-
lematical.
The political theories of revolution attempt to
explain the causes and effects of revolutions; whether
revolutionary activity is good or evil; and if revolutions
are necessary and inevitable.
PLATOdescribes revolutionary political change in
Book VIII of The Republicas having an internal logic.
Each system of government or regime has a certain
VIRTUEor strength and a certain vice or weakness, and
governments succeed others by satisfying the defi-
ciency of the previous regime. So, for example, ARIS-
TOCRACY has the virtue of wisdom but the vice of
dishonor. The state that replaces it, timocracy (military
government), has the virtue of honor, which addresses
the weakness of aristocracy. But a military state has
the vice of poverty, which causes it to be overthrown
by an oligarchy, which has the virtue of wealth. Oli-
garchy’s greed leads to inequality, which causes DEMOC-
RACYto replace it. Democracy has EQUALITY, but its
FREEDOMcauses chaos, leading to TYRANNY. So revolu-
tion, in Plato’s view can be understood in terms of suc-
cessive regimes that address the deficiencies of their
predecessors.
ARISTOTLE sees more varied causes of social and
political change, but the chief one is a ruler violating
the principles of his or her own CONSTITUTION. Most
common changes are not to different types of regimes,
but are a corruption of the existing one. So kingship,
the rule of one person for the common good, is cor-
rupted to tyranny, the rule of one for the ruler’s self-
interest. Aristocracy, the government of a few for the
common good, is corrupted by selfish rulers who
become an oligarchy. Polity is the rule of the many
(majority) for the good of the whole nation; its corrupt
form is democracy, or the majority ruling for its own
interest.
Roman theories of revolutionary change (POLYBIUS)
emphasize a natural cycle of a state’s development
(birth, growth, decay, death). It advises those practices
that prolong the life of a REPUBLICand keep it healthy
(high moral standards, military virtue, the RULE OF LAW,
financial frugality, a sense of public duty). CICERO
expresses the Roman ideal in his image of the sturdy
republican soldier-citizen: Luxury and moral deca-
dence weaken this healthy republic, leading to eco-
nomic, ethical, military, and political decline and
destruction. The wealth and violence of the Roman
Empire fulfilled this Ciceronian prophecy.
The CHRISTIANera expressed a biblical and provi-
dential view of political change. St. AUGUSTINEsees the
fall of the Roman Empire as God’s wrath on the
immorality and pride of imperial Rome. PURITAN
notions of political COVENANTsee stable government
following from obedience to God’s laws; personal sin
and political corruption lead to social revolution.
John LOCKE’s British LIBERALISMpresents a SOCIAL-
CONTRACTview of the state (a legitimate government
preserving the NATURAL RIGHTS of the people) that
allows for a “Right to Revolution” overthrowing a
STAT Ethat violates citizens’ rights to life, LIBERTY, and
property. This theory justified the American colonists
revolution against the British Empire.
MARXISMviews revolution as inevitable and reflect-
ing natural, historical social PROGRESS. As economic
technology advances beyond the control of the ruling
ELITE, it empowers a rising social class to take over the
government. Thus, for Karl MARX, the CAPITALISTclass
of INDUSTRIALISMgrows more powerful than the landed
aristocracy of FEUDALISMand eventually takes political
power from the MEDIEVAL monarchs (in the English
revolution of 1688, the French Revolution of 1789).
When the workers gain sufficient might, they over-
throw the capitalist, bourgeois republics and establish
SOCIALISMunder the “dictatorship of the proletariat.”
Thus, revolution is inevitable and good, for COMMUNIST
thinkers.
Max WEBERportrayed political history as the ten-
sion between BUREAUCRATIC rationality, economic
change, and charismatic leadership. As kings faltered
through wars and economic crises, dynamic leaders
arose, leading radical movements to overthrow them.
Edmund BURKE’s traditional CONSERVATISM resisted
sudden revolutionary change (especially in France),
which he thought caused the destruction of much ofrevolution 259