What are the ingredients of a revolution?

Political revolutions are sudden, seismic shifts from one form of government to another (0:13). While revolutions are diverse in nature, they often share four core characteristics (0:24):

Dissident Elites: Individuals with wealth, power, or education who use their resources to challenge the existing administration, as seen in the American Revolution (0:42).

Mass Frustration: Widespread discontent among the general population regarding political, economic, and social institutions, which drove the French Revolution (1:21).

Shared Motivations: Unifying goals that bring together people from various classes and backgrounds, such as those inspired by Enlightenment ideas during the Latin American Revolutions (2:01).

State Crises: A government's failure to meet its citizens' needs or sustain its own systems, which made the Russian Empire vulnerable to the revolution of the early 20th century (2:43).

Revolutions transcend specific cultures and players to demonstrate the inherent dynamism of human nature and politics (3:39).