Leadership and Collective Action: The Case of Revolution

Based upon the idea that leadership could provide a rational and parsimonious solution to the collective action problem, this article develops a simple utility equation and a conceptual model of choice that is used to interconnect the rational choice, short-term exogenous shock, and long-run socioeconomic perspectives on revolutionary collective action. Leadership plays a critical role in overcoming both the initial barriers to collective action and the ongoing difficulties encountered in the pursuit of public goods. Though much work remains to be accomplished, this modeling project builds a conceptual foundation from which a more rigorous, more formal depiction of the proposed relationships can be developed and from which the empirical testing of the dynamics of revolution and other collective actions can be facilitated.