MSG Team's other articles

12677 Cause Categories in Operational Risk Management

The definition of operational risk has been narrowed down. This has helped organizations better manage their operational risks. All operational risks can now be traced to four basic causes viz. people, processes, systems, and external events. However, merely stating a risk as a systems risk does not provide too much information. There is no actionable […]

12238 The ABC’s of Insurance Fraud in India

India is one of the biggest markets for insurance companies across the world. However, it also needs to be understood that operating an insurance business in India is not free from risks. This is because insurance companies in India face an abnormally large number of fraud cases. In fact, it is estimated that the Indian […]

10665 Political Systems Around the World

Different Political Systems around the World There are many different types of political systems around the world. Whereas the political system in the United States follows a mixture of direct and indirect election, the UK with its Westminster style of democracy is another type of political system. Most of the former colonial countries follow the […]

12911 Corporate Dressing and Personal Grooming

Corporate dressing refers to sensible dressing at work place which helps an individual to make a mark of his/her own in the first meeting itself. Corporate dressing teaches an individual to dress according to the organization culture. Do not wear something which will make you feel odd one out at the workplace. Dressing sensibly makes […]

11140 Role of Management in Inculcating Workplace Ethics

Management plays an essential role in inculcating workplace ethics in employees. Bosses need to set an example for their subordinates. You need to come on time if you expect your team members to reach office on time. Management needs to act as a source of inspiration for the employees. It is generally observed that team […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

The Nature of Political Revolutions

An often-overlooked aspect of the modern political economy is the capacity for change and renewal that is inherent in the way modern democracies work. Despite reversals of democracy where world over we are witnessing the retreat of democracy, there have been notable exceptions to the norm wherein some social and political movements have succeeded in effecting change from below.

The term “change from below” is important, as many political scientists believe that true political revolutions are those that change the system from within and below. For instance, the recent Arab Spring of 2011 resulted in the toppling of several dictatorships in the Middle East and Northern Africa as social and political movements rapidly gained strength leading to the powers that be conceding the demand for change posed by these social movements. Of course, this is not always the case where social movements succeed as we have seen with the Occupy Movement in the United States that petered out without securing its objectives.

Institutional Support is Vital for Political Revolutions to Succeed

The point here is that for social movements to succeed in effecting political revolutions there has to be support from the institutions like the Army, Judiciary, and Bureaucracy. Unless these key stakeholders concede the demand for change, it is impossible to succeed as then the ruling dispensation can either use force to quell the revolution or use official channels to deny what is being demanded. For instance, the call for Total Revolution given by the late mass leader, Jayaprakash Narayan in India in the 1970s failed because there was no support from the institutions.

Similarly, the recent protests against corruption have lost steam because though there was popular support, there was no institutional support. Of course, the protests against violence against women succeeded to some extent in forcing the authorities to implement new laws since there was broad based support from the political and bureaucratic establishment. Hence, the implications for political revolutionaries are that they must lobby the institutional powers to get them on board for their change agenda and along with them; they must use the media effectively.

The Indian Independence Movement and its Relevance to Contemporary Times

No discussion on political revolutions is complete without the example of the Indian Independence movement that was led from below and succeeded in actualizing its objective of gaining independence from the British. This movement is a stellar example of what happens when people power is hard to ignore and when large sections of the bureaucracy and the police forces support the aims of the political revolutionaries. On the other hand, many political revolutionaries argue that revolution can happen only through armed means.

However, history is replete with examples of failed revolutions that relied only on armed insurgency and nothing else. Hence, the conclusion here is that political revolutions are best actualized when mass movements are led by charismatic figures, have the support of the majority of the people, and include institutional actors in their agenda.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

Concept of Property in Political Science

MSG Team

Are We Really Capitalists ?

MSG Team