This study explores how ideology shaped participation in the Chinese Revolution of 1911, ending the 2000-year-old imperial system and establishing the first republic in China. Using a novel data set of 2680 modern educated elites, I provide individual-level evidence showing that regime insiders, particularly military students, were the most likely to participate in revolution and overthrow the autocratic regime. Radical ideology facilitated the likelihood of participating in the revolution, and this was channeled through military education. Ideology leads to effective participation in revolution depending on the ability to mobilize resources. When authoritarian regimes fail to indoctrinate and control the elites who are recruited into the government, alienated elites inside the governme...[ Read more ]

This study explores how ideology shaped participation in the Chinese Revolution of 1911, ending the 2000-year-old imperial system and establishing the first republic in China. Using a novel data set of 2680 modern educated elites, I provide individual-level evidence showing that regime insiders, particularly military students, were the most likely to participate in revolution and overthrow the autocratic regime. Radical ideology facilitated the likelihood of participating in the revolution, and this was channeled through military education. Ideology leads to effective participation in revolution depending on the ability to mobilize resources. When authoritarian regimes fail to indoctrinate and control the elites who are recruited into the government, alienated elites inside the government can pose a greater threat to regime stability.