TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2010//
TI  - Revolutionaries, despots, and rationality
JO  - Rationality and society
A1  - Olsson-Yaouzis, N.
SP  - 283
EP  - 299
VL  - 22
IS  - 3
N2  - The role of groups has often been invoked as an explanation of how successful revolutions can be the outcome of rational action. This paper attempts to show that the focus on groups fails to incorporate an important aspect of oppression, namely the oppressive regime itself. If rational choice theory is to be taken seriously and if it is assumed that the potential revolutionaries are rational, then similar assumptions should be made about the despot. If this is done, then it is far from obvious that groups help to solve the free-rider problem. Rather it is shown that in this case the revolutionaries become subject to a higher order free-rider problem.<p />
LA  - 
SN  - 1043-4631
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043463110374497
ID  - ref1
ER  -