Rational Choice in Collective Protests

Oberschall, Anthony

doi:10.1177/1043463194006001006

Cited by 150 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Political theorists rationalizing why people protest offer explanations based on the importance of peer pressure within smaller political groups (McCarthy and Zald 1977;Uhlaner 1989;Oberschall 1994), on people's (unrealistic) perception that that they can be politically influential (Opp 1989), and on bandwagon effects (Kuran 1989). However, these results leave the question of why protests would matter as instruments for political change unanswered.…”

Section: More Specifically We Investigate the Impact Of The Tea Partmentioning

confidence: 51%

Do Political Protests Matter? Evidence from the Tea Party Movement*

Madestam¹,

Shoag

Veuger³

et al. 2013

The Quarterly Journal of Economics

337

205

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Can protests cause political change, or are they merely symptoms of underlying shifts in policy preferences? We address this question by studying the Tea Party movement in the United States, which rose to prominence through coordinated rallies across the country on Tax Day, April 15, 2009. We exploit variation in rainfall on the day of these rallies as an exogenous source of variation in attendance. We show that good weather at this initial, coordinating event had significant consequences for the subsequent local strength of the movement, increased public support for Tea Party positions, and led to more Republican votes in the 2010 midterm elections. Policy making was also affected, as incumbents responded to large protests in their district by voting more conservatively in Congress. Our estimates suggest significant multiplier effects: an additional protester increased the number of Republican votes by a factor well above 1. Together our results show that protests can build political movements that ultimately affect policy making and that they do so by influencing political views rather than solely through the revelation of existing political preferences.

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Section: More Specifically We Investigate the Impact Of The Tea Partmentioning

confidence: 51%

Do Political Protests Matter? Evidence from the Tea Party Movement*

Madestam¹,

Shoag

Veuger³

et al. 2013

The Quarterly Journal of Economics

337

205

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finalmente, la contención política que estudiamos es producto de los esfuerzos compartidos de un grupo de individuos por alcanzar un bien público, (Tilly y Tarrow, 2006); por lo tanto cabe atender a los principales dilemas en su producción: la cooperación y la coordinación (Olson, 1965;Moore, 1995;Hardin, 1991;Oberschall, 1994;Hardin, 1995;1991;1971). El primer problema consiste en resolver si un grupo de individuos, al identificar la posibilidad de conseguir un bien público (o evitar un mal colectivo), estaría dispuesto a cooperar para alcanzarlo (o evitarlo); el segundo problema se refiere a la definición de los medios, las estrategias y tácticas que deben coordinar esos individuos, ya dispuestos a cooperar (Hardin, 1991).…”

Section: María Rosa Herrera Gutiérrezunclassified

“…Cuando menos, el contar con un mayor volumen de targets de movilización y la cercanía de éstos, suponen rasgos que facilitarían la decisión de dramatizar o no la contienda política (Oberschall, 1994;Navarro, 2008, Navarro y Clarck, 2009). …”

Section: Extensión E Intensidad De La Protesta: Argentina 1998-2005unclassified

Mecanismo de la dramatización de la protesta: táctica y estrategia. Un análisis desde Argentina

Gutiérrez

2012

Cuad. Trab. Soc.

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IntroducciónEl Trabajo Social, como disciplina de las ciencias sociales, desarrolla conocimientos que le permitan analizar la realidad, compleja, en la que interviene. Concretamente, y por su dimensión colectiva (De Robertis y Pascal, 2007), la disciplina se esmera en desplegar instrumentos analíticos que le permitan comprender los ejes fenomenológicos que dan lugar a esta dimensión. Uno de ellos es el problema de la acción colectiva. Precisamente es está última la que sustenta la articulación de la dimensión colectiva; es decir, el Trabajo Social interviene con grupos, comunidades, organizaciones, etc., porque unos individuos están dispuestos/as a cooperar y coordinarse para alcanzar un bien Resumen Este artículo presenta un modelo analítico que permite comprender la «cocina de la protesta», es decir, los activistas que optan por realizar protestas sociales ¿cómo eligen la estrategia para presentar sus reclamos colectivos? y ¿cómo escogen entre las diferentes tácticas posibles? Estas cuestiones remiten a la extensión y la intensidad de la contienda política, dimensiones clásicas en el estudio de las movilizaciones sociales. Además, para dar cuenta de la intensidad de la protesta, se propone una metodología que permite tratarla con independencia de la frecuencia con la que suceden los eventos de protesta. Desde esta perspectiva, se estudia el ciclo de protesta ocurrido en Argentina entre 1998 y 2005 y se analizan las curvas, en extensión e intensidad, de las corrientes contenciosas producidas en ese periodo. Finalmente se reflexiona acerca de la pertinencia, para Trabajo Social, del estudio de este fenómeno. Palabras clave: contención política, protesta social, acción colectiva, dimensión colectiva del Trabajo Social. AbstractThis paper presents an analytical model for understanding the making of the protest, that is, how do activists who choose to engage in social protest choose the strategy of protest? and how do the choose between different tactics? These issues concern the extent and intensity of political disputes, classical dimensions in the study of social movements. Further, to show the intensity of the protest, we propose a methodology which enables us to discuss the topic independently of the frequency of protest vens. With this analytical-methodological framework, we study the cycle of protest in Argentina (1998Argentina ( -2005 and analyze the trends, in extent and intensity, of the disputes producing during this period. Finally, we reflect on the relevance of studying this phenomenon for the discipline of Social Work.

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“…Furthermore, empirical evidence shows that people do not participate in collective actions in isolation, but together with friends and neighbors (see McAdam 1986;Gould 1991;Opp and Gern 1993). Individuals decide to participate, if they are assured of the participation of their friends (Chong 1991;Oberschall 1973Oberschall , 1994. Chong (1991) and Oberschall (1994) described this as an assurance process.…”

Section: Structural Embeddedness Of Actionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuals decide to participate, if they are assured of the participation of their friends (Chong 1991;Oberschall 1973Oberschall , 1994. Chong (1991) and Oberschall (1994) described this as an assurance process. In the assurance process, behavioral confirmation has a two-fold effect.…”

Section: Structural Embeddedness Of Actionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Intergroup Conflict As Strategic Interactions

Takács¹

2003

Review of Sociology

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Abstract:Conflicts between groups are among the central research problems in the social sciences. Several theoretical models have been proposed previously to understand and explain their causes, emergence, and dynamics. None of these models, however, captured the unintended nature of these conflicts as a result of individual actions and the structural embeddedness of actions at the same time. This study proposes such a framework as it integrates two-level models of intergroup relations known as team games and models of dyadic social control mechanisms. The proposed model demonstrates why and under what structural conditions can intergroup conflicts be considered as social dilemmas. Model predictions can be derived about the relation between certain properties of the social network and likelihood of intergroup conflict. In particular, the model provides an explanation why intergroup conflicts are often promoted by segregation and also describes some conditions under which the segregation effect becomes weaker.

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Rational Choice in Collective Protests

Cited by 150 publications

References 5 publications

Do Political Protests Matter? Evidence from the Tea Party Movement*

Do Political Protests Matter? Evidence from the Tea Party Movement*

Mecanismo de la dramatización de la protesta: táctica y estrategia. Un análisis desde Argentina

Modeling Intergroup Conflict As Strategic Interactions

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