Political Protest and Activist Politics Flashcards
two theories that deal with influence of protest movements
elite theories
pluralistic theories
elite theories
elites are the central figures in mass opinion
elites can influence the priming / framing of issues and also which topics and stories are covered
pluralistic theories
claim that protest movements have bottom-up influences on policymakers and public opinion
our groups of actors that play a role in the agenda seeding model
subordinate group
the state
the media
median elites and masses
our groups of actors that play a role in the agenda seeding model: working
The first group, a subordinate group, chooses whether or not to use violence when protesting.
Thereafter, the second group, the state, reacts to the protest by using violence or not.
Then the third group emerges, namely the media, and that group is crucial, for they play a vital role in framing the protests.
Lastly, median elites and masses form opinions based on media reporting, so when the media ‘choose’ the side of the protest movement the median elites and masses will also move to the subordinate group, but when the media ‘choose’ the side of the state the elites and masses will likely move towards the dominant group-aligned coalition.
violence and media
If the protest movement is nonviolent the media will likely frame the issues in the direction of the subordinate group fighting for their rights independent of the state responding with violence or not. However, if the subordinate group does use violence during protests the media will likely choose the side of the state independent of the state using violence or not.
nonviolent = framing in direction of subordinates, violence = bad
three aspects of representatives relevant
salience
position
intention
salience
representatives need to believe that the addressing issue by the protest movement is important.
Given that the representatives do get a lot of information, protest movements need to stand out in the sense that they gain attention from the representatives.
issue importance
position
this means that when a representative’s position and the demand of the protest movement are in line with each other it is more likely that the representative will act compared to when this is not the case.
position representative & demands movement in line
intention
intention of representatives to undertake action. This means that representatives must have the willingness to act on this issue, for example by introducing a bill or asking questions in parliament.
willingness to act
WUNC framework
worthiness, unity, numbers and commitment
worthiness
entails the idea that protest movements are perceived as legitimate and credible when they use no violence, for example
unity
means that when a protest movement is unified it is more effective for two reasons.
Firstly, it gives a clear signal to elected representatives compared to when there are diverse signals.
Secondly, unity can also indicate that the movement is well-organized, thereby having the potential to initiate mobilization against elected representatives.
numbers
means that elected representatives use the size of a protest movement as an indicator of the significance of that movement, for they expect larger movements to gain more media attention, for example.
commitment
means that representatives use the dedication of a protest movement as an indicator to determine whether or not this movement is important, for a movement that shows great commitment will likely persist in striving for their cause, so it can be less easily ignored.
