Etiology and Outcomes of Protest

Was it Worth the Effort? The Outcomes and Consequences of Social Movements

“…Gamson's work has raised a number of criticisms, mostly methodological (Goldstone 1980, Gurr 1980, Snyder & Kelly 1976, Webb et al 1983, Zelditch 1978, but also a series of reanalyses of his data, which the author had appended to the book (Frey et al 1992, Goldstone 1980, Mirowsky & Ross 1981, Steedly & Foley 1979.2 As in the case of the role of disruptive tactics, most of these works have confirmed Gamson's principal findings, at least in part. For example, Steedly & Foley (1979), using more sophisticated techniques, found group success related, in order of relative importance, to the nondisplacement nature of the goals, the number of alliances, the absence of factionalism, the existence of specific and limited goals, and the willingness to use sanctions.…”

“…Among the former are obviously those who have reanalyzed Gamson's original data (Frey et al 1992, Goldstone 1980, Mirowsky & Ross 1981, Steedly & Foley 1979). Webb and several collaborators also built on Gamson's typology and work, but used a different dataset (Webb et al 1983). Amenta et al (1992), on the other hand, defined three levels of success in an attempt to elaborate on Gamson's typology: co-optation or the recognition from opponents or the state, gains in policies that aid the group, and the transformation of challengers into a member of the polity.…”

Deprivation in the Midst of Plenty: Citizen Polarization and Political Protest

“…Our argument that the mean level of grievance in a country should be unrelated to the likelihood of protest, and our empirical evidence to this effect, helps to explain why prior studies have reached very different conclusions about the relationship between grievance and protest (Booth and Seligson 2009; Dalton 2004; Kerbo 1982; Kitschelt 1986; McCarthy and Zald 1977; Norris 2011; Snyder and Tilly 1972; Webb et al 1983). Our elaboration of Gurr's theory shows that the level of grievance in a society is likely to be a poor indicator of the likelihood of citizen protest, because, for example, a country might have a high average level of discontent but few (if any) reference groups to raise citizens' value expectations.…”

“…11). However, much of the country-level literature on protest finds that grievances in and of themselves seldom explain the emergence of protest activity (Kerbo 1982; Kitschelt 1986; McCarthy and Zald 1977; Snyder and Tilly 1972, 520; Webb et al 1983; see also Skocpol 1979).…”

“…Recent studies show that dissatisfaction with the performance of democracy is quite common (Pew Research Center 2019). Yet, much of the country-level literature on protest finds that grievances in and of themselves seldom explain the emergence of protest activity (Kerbo 1982; Kitschelt 1986; McCarthy and Zald 1977; Snyder and Tilly 1972, 520; Webb et al 1983; see also Skocpol 1979). We argue below that this seeming paradox is the result of an oversimplification in generalizing traditional models of group grievance to a societal level.…”