Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | Online Publication Date: 24 Jan 2012
The Movement Society in Comparative Perspective
The Movement Society in Comparative Perspective
Page Range: 475 – 494
Recent scholarship argues that citizens in advanced democracies are turning to protests as a means of voicing political preferences. Advocates of this perspective claim that individuals now live in a "movement society," where protest activity stands alongside more traditional forms of political participation. However, despite the theoretical advances associated with the movement society approach, comprehensive evaluations of the underlying claims are lacking. This study remedies the empirical gaps by assessing three arguments. First, are more individuals participating in protest activities? Second, are protest activities expanding to more democratic countries? Third, have protest activities become "institutionalized," as indicated by a shift to nonconfrontational tactics? Analyses based on cross-national data provide mixed support for the movement society thesis. More individuals are becoming involved in protests, and this trend is observed in a large number of advanced democracies. Yet, there has not been a discernable shift toward the use of nonconfrontational tactics; indeed, confrontational tactics are becoming more popular.
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