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In her book, States and Social Revolutions, Skocpol, a renowned expert on revolutions, emphasizes her belief that it is not revolutionaries who make revolutions. She argues that revolutions are non-voluntarist, that is many groups want to take power, but only one does. She also believes that the state has to weaken in order for the revolution to occur. Her study concentrates on the socialist revolutions, and the role of peasants in those revolutions. Thus, she does not give much thought to the American Revolution. The American Revolution did not involve peasant mobilization, since upper-class lawyers were the main force behind a change in authority. Because Skocpol sees peasant revolutions as the only true ones, it is difficult to apply her theories to this Revolution. American Revolution was not a socialist revolution, it was a democratic one; there was no one person who took power, but rather a three-branch government was invented. According to Skocpol, this was not a real revolution. But since her theories are very narrow and are made to fit her examples, one should not be induced to believe that the American Revolution was not a true Revolution.
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