The Psychology of Revolution and How Psychology Affects It
Throughout history, power structure in various societies have created both problems and solutions for the general populations of people. In almost every country in the world, popular unrest has brought about serious changes in the structure of government and policy. When a large amount of people are seriously unhappy with their lives or how the government is running, it can breed unrest and turmoil within all economic classes. This, in turn, can begin the process of people beginning a grassroots revolution. The idea that people control how they want to live along with the idea that grassroot revolutions and ideas leading societies into the future is an important concept. When people …show more content…
Before going into the psychology of why and how a revolution starts, it’s important to define the definition and description of a revolution is being used. According to Dictionary.com (REMEMBER TO CITE THIS), the active definition of a revolution is “an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed”. In this essay, we deviate from that in a few ways. One way is the idea that the people succeeded in the overthrow of the established government. This essay will also include examples of failed or unfinished revolutions. Revolution will be mainly used idealistically in this essay for the purpose of describing how large groups of people go about trying to drastically change their society. It will also delve into group mentality and what is believed to be the root cause of those uprisings against the political system in place. In numerous works, including Gustave le Bon’s The Psychology of Revolution, (CITE THIS) there are three main types of revolution, scientific, political, and religion. The main focus for this essay is political revolutions and how …show more content…
Without a power structure to begin with, there would be little to revolt against. Due to psychological links between authoritarianism and rebellion, revolution will likely coincide with top-down power structure in government. This creates the first step in the so-called anatomy of a revolution. As aforementioned, first people herd together with a common belief, then they gain popularity and take off as their own party of belief. After this, revolutions tend to begin with actions such as protests, boycotts, or sit-ins. This will put information out into the world that the revolution is beginning, and can even draw even more members depending on the resolution of the protest. Usually these protests include changes to the government that would mean its end. The changes being too great for the government to just fix; it would have to be an entirely rewritten system. As an example, the American Revolution gained ground in the colonies, and in turn they demanded to be represented in Parliament, an idea that would have been groundbreaking for the English government. They could not grant that wish without drastically changing the ideals of their government. Normally at this point a government tries to stop the revolution from taking hold in their country. The government does so by various methods and persuasions. Most of the time, the government becomes more
Throughout history, power structure in various societies have created both problems and solutions for the general populations of people. In almost every country in the world, popular unrest has brought about serious changes in the structure of government and policy. When a large amount of people are seriously unhappy with their lives or how the government is running, it can breed unrest and turmoil within all economic classes. This, in turn, can begin the process of people beginning a grassroots revolution. The idea that people control how they want to live along with the idea that grassroot revolutions and ideas leading societies into the future is an important concept. When people …show more content…
Before going into the psychology of why and how a revolution starts, it’s important to define the definition and description of a revolution is being used. According to Dictionary.com (REMEMBER TO CITE THIS), the active definition of a revolution is “an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed”. In this essay, we deviate from that in a few ways. One way is the idea that the people succeeded in the overthrow of the established government. This essay will also include examples of failed or unfinished revolutions. Revolution will be mainly used idealistically in this essay for the purpose of describing how large groups of people go about trying to drastically change their society. It will also delve into group mentality and what is believed to be the root cause of those uprisings against the political system in place. In numerous works, including Gustave le Bon’s The Psychology of Revolution, (CITE THIS) there are three main types of revolution, scientific, political, and religion. The main focus for this essay is political revolutions and how …show more content…
Without a power structure to begin with, there would be little to revolt against. Due to psychological links between authoritarianism and rebellion, revolution will likely coincide with top-down power structure in government. This creates the first step in the so-called anatomy of a revolution. As aforementioned, first people herd together with a common belief, then they gain popularity and take off as their own party of belief. After this, revolutions tend to begin with actions such as protests, boycotts, or sit-ins. This will put information out into the world that the revolution is beginning, and can even draw even more members depending on the resolution of the protest. Usually these protests include changes to the government that would mean its end. The changes being too great for the government to just fix; it would have to be an entirely rewritten system. As an example, the American Revolution gained ground in the colonies, and in turn they demanded to be represented in Parliament, an idea that would have been groundbreaking for the English government. They could not grant that wish without drastically changing the ideals of their government. Normally at this point a government tries to stop the revolution from taking hold in their country. The government does so by various methods and persuasions. Most of the time, the government becomes more