Disaggregating Defection
Dissent Campaign Strategies and Security Force Disloyalty
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6285080 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marianne Dahl (0000-0002-0560-3850, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Oslo, Norway), M Rivera (0000-0003-1554-2681, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Oslo, Norway), Scott Gate (0000-0002-9890-5590, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Oslo, Norway), Scott Gates (Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Oslo, Norway) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00220027251348389 |
| OpenAlex | W4411021421 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 78 |
Extant research posits that nonviolent campaigns increase security force defection during dissent, thereby improving their success rates over violent campaigns. Yet empirical evidence remains limited and mixed. We argue that this is partly due to overly aggregated measures of disloyalty that mask important variation. To address this, we disaggregate security force disloyalty both theoretically and empirically. We contend that nonviolent and violent strategies impose distinct costs on security forces—related to repression, fighting, and exit—which shape the likelihood of different forms of disloyalty. Our findings reveal that nonviolent campaigns are more likely to trigger large-scale loyalty shifts, but their effects are confined to specific types of disloyalty. Specifically, nonviolent strategies increase the likelihood of shirking, vocal support for opposition campaigns or criticism of the regime, and withdrawal of regime support. By contrast, desertion and side-switching are more likely during violent campaigns
Dissent · Law and economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
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Nonviolent RevolutionsCivil Resistance in the Late 20th Century
Paradigms and Sand Castles
The Combat Soldier
Alliance Formation in Civil Wars
Seizing Power
The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran
Working, Shirking, and Sabotage
The anti-Marcos struggle
Democracy and the Market
Democracy and Development
An evolutionary theory of moral injury with insight from Turkana warriors
Civil Resistance
Why civil resistance works
Desertion
Determinants of Democratization
Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation
The Logic of Violence in Civil War
Strategies of Dictatorship and Military Disloyalty during Anti-Authoritarian Protests
Unravelling the complex nature of security force defection
Violence, non-violence and the conditional effect of repression on subsequent dissident mobilization
The Use of Repression as a Response to Domestic Dissent
Why Civil Resistance Works
Why Factions Switch Sides in Civil Wars
The Libyan Armed Forces between Coup-proofing and Repression
The Strategic Dimensions of Civil Resistance
Training, Morale and Modern War
First in Flight
Living by the Gun In Chad
From ‘the effect of repression’ toward ‘the response to repression
The soldier and the state
Poverty, the Coup Trap, and the Seizure of Executive Power
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Exit, Resistance, Loyalty
Mass Protests and the Military
Authoritarian Institutions and State Repression
Determinants of the Attempting and Outcome of Coups d’état
Jumping on the Bandwagon
State Repression and Nonviolent Resistance
Recruitment and Allegiance
Cues to Coup Plotters
The Grass Is Always Greener? Armed Group Side Switching in Civil Wars
Contesting the Fighter Identity
Desertion and Collective Action in Civil Wars
Constraining the Samurai
Military Defection During Localized Protests
One for All? State Violence and Insurgent Cohesion
A question of trust
Civilian Praetorianism and Military Shirking During Constitutional Crises in Latin America
Strategic Logic of Elite Purges in Dictatorships
Civil-Military Relations
What Stops the Torture
Definition and Measurement of Tactical Voting
Loyalty Strategies and Military Defection in Rebellion
From Disaffection to Desertion
Going on the Run
Desertion During the Civil War
State Repression and Political Order
Global instances of coups from 1950 to 2010
Unpacking nonviolent campaigns
Fresh carnations or all thorn, no rose? Nonviolent campaigns and transitions in autocracies
Joining forces
To become again our brethren'
Toppling democracy
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Introducing the Military Mutinies and Defections Database (MMDD), 1945-2017
Mutiny and nonviolence in the Arab Spring
Some Social Requisites of Democracy
Concept Misformation in Comparative Politics
An Empirical Evaluation of Explanations for State Repression
Russia's Wounded Military
Les pertes de l'armée italienne pendant la Première Guerre mondiale
Crisis as Shirking
Out of the Barracks
Toward a Theory of Civil-Military Punishment
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |