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Is Revolution Individually Rational?

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  • JACK A. GOLDSTONE

    (Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and University of California, Davis)

Abstract

An examination of the free rider problem in revolutionary action suggests that this problem can be, and historically has been, overcome by drawing on norms of solidarity developed in preexisting groups, which gain individuals' commitment by providing commonly needed public goods. A simple model of rational action by groups, based on considerations of individual solidarity and cross-group interactions, then predicts many of the well-known macrofeatures of revolutions in different kinds of societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Jack A. Goldstone, 1994. "Is Revolution Individually Rational?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 6(1), pages 139-166, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:6:y:1994:i:1:p:139-166
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463194006001008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Berejikian, Jeffrey, 1992. "Revolutionary Collective Action and the Agent-Structure Problem," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(3), pages 647-657, September.
    2. Gordon Tullock, 1971. "The paradox of revolution," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 89-99, September.
    3. Jeff Goodwin & Theda Skocpol, 1989. "Explaining Revolutions in the Contemporary Third World," Politics & Society, , vol. 17(4), pages 489-509, December.
    4. Finkel, Steven E. & Muller, Edward N. & Opp, Karl-Dieter, 1989. "Personal Influence, Collective Rationality, and Mass Political Action," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(3), pages 885-903, September.
    5. Siegwart Lindenberg, 1989. "Social Production Functions, Deficits, and Social Revolutions," Rationality and Society, , vol. 1(1), pages 51-77, July.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rubin, Jared, 2014. "Centralized institutions and cascades," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 340-357.
    3. Guillaume Cheikbossian, 2021. "Group cooperation against a hegemon," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 33(1), pages 25-55, January.
    4. Coyne,Christopher J., 2020. "Defense, Peace, and War Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108724036.
    5. Joseph Lampel & Zur Shapira, 2001. "Judgmental Errors, Interactive Norms, and the Difficulty of Detecting Strategic Surprises," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(5), pages 599-611, October.
    6. Nicoara Olga, 2018. "Cultural Leadership and Entrepreneurship As Antecedents of Estonia’s Singing Revolution and Post-Communist Success," TalTech Journal of European Studies, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 65-91, September.
    7. Andrew Marcum & David Skarbek, 2014. "Why didn’t slaves revolt more often during the Middle Passage?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 26(2), pages 236-262, May.
    8. Kazuo Yamaguchi, 2000. "Subjective Rationality Of Initiators And Of Threshold-Theoretical Behavior Of Followers In Collective Action," Rationality and Society, , vol. 12(2), pages 185-225, May.
    9. Sirianne Dahlum & Tore Wig, 2019. "Educating Demonstrators: Education and Mass Protest in Africa," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(1), pages 3-30, January.
    10. Nicolas Olsson-Yaouzis, 2010. "Revolutionaries, despots, and rationality," Rationality and Society, , vol. 22(3), pages 283-299, August.
    11. Lise Rakner, 2021. "Don’t Touch My Constitution! Civil Society Resistance to Democratic Backsliding in Africa´s Pluralist Regimes," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S5), pages 95-105, July.
    12. Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard, 2013. "It’s the weather, stupid! Individual participation in collective May Day demonstrations," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 251-271, June.
    13. Leeson, Peter T., 2010. "Rational choice, Round Robin, and rebellion: An institutional solution to the problems of revolution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 297-307, March.
    14. Luke Abbs, 2020. "The hunger games: Food prices, ethnic cleavages and nonviolent unrest in Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(2), pages 281-296, March.
    15. Scott Gehlbach, 2006. "A Formal Model of Exit and Voice," Rationality and Society, , vol. 18(4), pages 395-418, November.

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