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T his paper attempts to conceptualize a unique type of political revolutionthe elite revolution-through historical study of the Meiji Restoration (1868) in Japan and the Ataturk Revolution in Turkey. These two revolutions, which marked the overthrow of a traditional regime in violent civil war, abolished the economic and social base of the old order, and created a modern nation-state committed to rapid industrialization, were unusual in two respects: (1) the revolutionary leaders were themselves members of the ruling stratum, holding high status and office in the old regime; and (2) revolutionary conflict and change were contained primarily within elite institutions and did not involve mass participation. The parameters and implications of such elite revolutions will be specified through analysis of: (1) the gen.-sis of revolutionaries in Japan and Turkey; (2) the tactics and organization they developed to overthrow the government and initiate revolutionary change; and (3) the political, economic, and social results of their revolutions.Although the pattern of elite revolution elucidated here cannot be exactly duplicated today, it is relevant to study of the prospects for anti-imperialist revolutions from above in industrializing countries, particularly in the Middle East and Latin America. Moreover, study of this unusual type of revolutionary action provides insights into more universal problems of revolutionary change. Specifically: (1) Contrary to the social theories of Weber, Michels, and others, an analysi. of elite revolutions indicates that under certain conditions bureaucrats may become revolutionaries, and that a social stratum of officeholders is more conducive to the genesis of revolutionaries than is a social class with vested interests in private property. (2) Study of the tactics used by elite revolutionaries indicates organizational methods that permi t a revolutionary takeover of power and the initiation of fundamental social change while minimizing the amount of violence, terror, and social upheaval invoh·ed. (3) Analysis of the change generated by elite revolution indicates some of the costs of limited mass involvement in revolutionary action.

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