http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_of_Revolution
Brinton summarizes the revolutionary process as moving from "financial breakdown, [to] organization of the discontented to remedy this breakdown ... revolutionary demands on the part of these organized discontented, demands which if granted would mean the virtual abdication of those governing, attempted use of force by the government, its failure, and the attainment of power by the revolutionists. These revolutionists have hitherto been acting as an organized and nearly unanimous group, but with the attainment of power it is clear that they are not united. The group which dominates these first stages we call the moderates .... power passes by violent ... methods from Right to Left."
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The revolutions begin with problems in the pre-revolutionary regime. These include problems functioning ? "government deficits, more than usual complaints over taxation, conspicuous governmental favoring of one set of economic interests over another, administrative entanglements and confusions". There are also social problems, such as the feeling by some that careers are not "open to talents", and economic power is separated from political power and social distinction. There is a "loss of self-confidence among many members of the ruling class," the "conversion of many members of that class to the belief that their privileges are unjust or harmful to society." (p. 65) "Intellectuals" switch their allegiance away from the government. (p. 251) In short, "the ruling class becomes politically inept."
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Revolutionaries are "not unprosperous" but "feel restraint, cramp, ... rather than downright crushing oppression."