Revolutions happen when governmental weakness unblocks pressures, not when they are blocked

Evidence

Revolutions thus occur when obstacles to strong pressures are unblocked; they are not, as typical contingency theorists believe, the very result of blockage. Hence the assertion in our explanation-sketches: for inherency theory, the pivotal problem is what prevents extreme conflict from taking place; in contingency theory, the issue is what causes it at all. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4306 (#expands, via linked claim)

Revolution does not always come when things are going from bad to worse. It occurs most often when a nation that has accepted, and indeed has given no sign of even having noticed the most crushing laws, rejects them at the very moment when their load is being lightened…. Usually the most dangerous time for a bad government is when it attempts to reform itself. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4337 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Revolt requires a double nihilation of both ideal and actual states — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1068; Revolution differs from wartime by containing its own cause from within — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 521; Strong governance enables complex projects while weak governance causes their failure. — Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth, Institutional Bricolage and Commoning…, 119 (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• Revolutions happen when obstacles to pressure are removed, not when they are created. #expands (0.95) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4306
• Revolutions erupt when conditions improve, not when they worsen #complicates (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4337