, there are specific historical steps in which a societies history must follow to become a democratic, fascist, or communist society. He names three general classes: the landed elites, the bourgeois, and the peasants. In his theory, each class must change in a specific and historically identifiable way. There must also be an identifiable break in history where the lower classes revolt against those ruling.
To become a democracy, Moore states that the peasant class inevitably ceases to exist after a period of time. The bourgeois class rises, gaining power. They do not overpower the landed elites, but rather a balance of power is implicated so that neither has total control over the other's actions. .
To become a communist society, Moore's theory states that the bourgeois class must become very weak or disappear. Along with this, the peasant class does not gain power, but grows in size. The landed elites gain power and have a tie to the state rather than the peasants. It becomes labor repressive, and most likely has no commercialization.
The steps to becoming a fascist society differ greatly from that of a democratic society. The peasant class does not become obsolete, but persists, possibly changing slightly. Moore states that the nobility must then have a rise in power, and the bourgeois must weaken. He argues, however, that it does not become a communist society because there is still a free market system allowing the bourgeois to prosper.
Without these specific changes in the classes, Moore argues that you cannot achieve the status of a democracy, fascist society, or communist society. Power must shift in a certain way to provide for the final balance or imbalance of power between the classes.
