Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of protest-related arrests on future willingness to engage in protest based on data drawn from qualitative interviews with 27 randomly selected protesters who were arrested during the 2004 RNC. The paper begins by discussing the length and detention conditions for arrestees, which situates the reactions of arrestees to their confinement experiences. The paper then examines interview data, identifying and explaining trends that exist between the likelihood of future protest participation, and: (1) whether the participant intended/expected to be arrested or not; (2) severity of arrest and confinement experience; (3) case disposition (found guilty, case dismissed, adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, etc.); (4) prior arrest experiences; and (5) prior protest participation. Findings show that surprisingly, not all of these factors shaped willingness to protest in the future, but some markedly affect stated intentions. Finally, theoretical implications are discussed and findings are situated in terms of their generalizability for all RNC arrestees and other protest arrestees using quantitative data on all 2004 RNC arrestees.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Few authors have explored the bridge between economic reform and economic protest in Latin America. A great deal of the literature has focused on the political effects of economic reform including its effect on the party system, the executive, elections and other political variables. However, the literature is sparse regarding the nexus between economic protest and economic reforms. This study is part of a larger project that intends to correct this paucity in the literature on the developing world. This study focuses on Latin America, specifically examining the development of economic protest in Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina in the last decade. These three countries were chosen randomly for the pilot study. Using data collected from a variety of news sources, the paper will develop a theoretical model for understanding the causes of economic protests within the context of the developing world. The study is designed to contrast the data derived from the Inter-American Development Bank on economic reform and compare it to the incidence of protest in eleven Latin American countries. Data for instances of protest has been collected from Keesings World Wide. We examine the upward and downward trends of protest as they relate to economic and political change on a yearly basis for thirty years. A model to examine economic protest and economic reform is necessary because certain variables may make a region more tolerant of economic reforms than others. In addition, economic reform can affect the mobilized conflict in Latin America by giving rise to new collective action problems.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: It is still an unresolved puzzle whether high or low levels of state coercions lead to more or less protest activity. Some hypotheses – the inverted U-relationship (lower levels of state repression decrease contentious actions by the civil society), the backlash hypothesis (higher state coercion lead to more protest activity) and the non-linear relationship (the protest-repression nexus is complex and multi-dynamic) – have been proposed and tested in various theoretical and empirical studies. In this paper, I try harmonize these three contradictory hypotheses with the help of two game theoretic models (a game of complete information and a game of incomplete information with Baysian updating). These games show that all three hypotheses are theoretically and empirically possible. Multiple equilibria result if one slightly changes the payoff structure of the two actors the state and the protesters.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A large debate has erupted in recent work on social movements about the role of the state in protest, with some advocating alternative approaches to the study of social movements, such as a focus on institutional authorities. Using data on four types of online protest (petitions, boycotts, and letter-writing and e-mail campaigns), acquired using an innovative new methodology that produces a generalizable sample of online protest actions, this paper addresses this debate. We find that, while the state is a frequent target of online protest, a significant portion of protest activity targets other institutional authorities. Our analyses disaggregate the state and distinguish between types of institutional authorities, further deepening the understanding of both state and non-state actors. In addition to informing the existing debate over the definition of social movement activity, our data suggest an association between tactical forms and their targets. Finally, by using Internet data, this paper contributes to an under-studied area of social movement research: online protest.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Why did some Latinos in the United States but not others participate in immigrant rights protests? This paper uses data from the 2006 Pew Hispanic Survey (N=4,016) to investigate the relationship between social divisions among Latinos in the United States and participation in immigrant rights protests. It explains how various aspects of religion, including religious tradition, belief, and participation, mobilized and constrained Latinos to get involved protest activities. The findings show that non-citizen, first-generation, Spanish-speaking Latinos were more likely to participate in immigration rights protest. Affiliation with mainline Protestant and Catholic churches, as well as involvement in churches that are predominantly Latino or that organized protest activities, was strongly related to immigration rights protest. The results also show the importance of the internet for mobilization Latinos for immigration rights protests.