ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a typology of revolution and examines two possible causes of revolution—changes in economic development and level of education-regarding the extent of their association with certain characteristics of revolution. The analysis of inequalities of land distribution and the Cuban case study provide empirical support for the hypothesized relationship between the revolutionary gap and the domestic violence characteristic of revolutions. Two of the four measures—duration and domestic violence—may be interpreted as defining characteristics of revolution, and taken together may be seen as a measure of revolutionary intensity. The problem of identifying the preconditions of revolution has been of long concern to political theorists. James C. Davies’ hypothesis suggests that the higher the long-term rate of achievement and aspirations preceding the revolution, and the sharper the reversal immediately prior to the revolution, the greater the intensity as measured by duration and domestic violence.
