Examined in this document are specific political events, values, and styles of cultural revolt which have structured the parameters of rebellion and forged the tradition of outcast life styles. Some of the political events and values dealt with include the history of radicalism in the United States, and the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the wave of popular democracy from 1800-1850, the abolitionists, the Industrial Era, the progressives, and the black revolution of the 1960s. Each of these topics is discussed in terms of their historical and/or social perspectives and their influences on political and social change. Emphasized are the conflict of institutions versus individuals and the discrepancy between the theory and practice of democracy. The styles of cultural revolt analyzed in this paper range from the cultural rebellion of the communal movement through the basic philosophies and proponents of transcendentalism, to aspects of the Bohemian movement in New York City. The emphasis in these analyses is on the tension between outsiders and the institutions of social control. An argument is made that this tension has opened pathways of social transformation and preserved the cultural continuity from within. (Author/EB)