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Preferences for the scope of protests

Author

Listed:
  • Miquel Pellicer

    (GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies and SALDRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town)

  • Eva Wegner

    (School of Politics & International Relations, University College Dublin)

  • Alexander De Juan

    (Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz)

Abstract

This paper studies a dimension of protest largely overlooked in the literature: protest scope, that is, whether protests seek large, structural, changes for a large share of the population or focus on small-scale improvements for small groups. We argue that this protest dimension is relevant for understanding the political consequences of protests. We show empirically that protests vary substantially in scope and that scope is not collinear with other protest dimensions, such as size, motive, or tactics. We explore drivers of individual preferences for protest scope with a survey experiment in two South African townships. We find that respondents made to feel more efficacious tend to support protests of broader scope. This effect operates via a social psychology channel whereby efficacy leads people to assign blame for their problems to more systemic causes.

Suggested Citation

  • Miquel Pellicer & Eva Wegner & Alexander De Juan, 2018. "Preferences for the scope of protests," SALDRU Working Papers 223, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    • Handle: RePEc:ldr:wpaper:223
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    File URL: https://www.opensaldru.uct.ac.za/handle/11090/907
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    Cited by:

    1. Miquel Pellicer & Eva Wegner & Lindsay J. Benstead & Ellen Lust, 2021. "Poor people’s beliefs and the dynamics of clientelism," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 33(3), pages 300-332, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Protest Dimensions; Political Behaviour; Social Psychology; Survey Experiment; Efficacy; South Africa;
    All these keywords.

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