Second, elite alignment and elite–mass engagement patterns are not
assumed to be phenomena exclusively associated with state formation.
Elites and the masses can undertake political action at any time, whether
formally or informally and whether legally or illegally. During periods of
regime change, intraelite politics can be intense and consequential. At the
same time, mass revolts commonly occur in revolutionary situations that
may or may not produce new states. State formation, if it involves major
elite realignments and mass participation, as is often the case, is arguably
a special and rarer case than the situations described previously.