Repressing Protest

Threat and Weakness in the European Context, 1975-1989

Bibliographic Data

ID7921152
AuthorsPhillip M Ayoub (0000-0002-3997-5185, Cornell University, corresponding author), Phillip Ayoub (Cornell University)
Year2010
Volume15
Issue4
Pages465-488
Publication date2010-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMobilization An International Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1086-671X • E-ISSN: 1938-1514
PublisherMobilization Journal (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.17813/maiq.15.4.f6306060j4511u58
OpenAlexW2306432738
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited27

Research on state repression of protest focuses on two key factors: threat and weakness. States repress protest events when they threaten state authorities and social norms (threat), when they lack organizational strength and political voice (weakness), or when they do both. I test these competing explanations in the context of Western European protests from 1975 to 1989. This analysis goes beyond previous research by exploring the effect of threat and weakness in multiple domestic contexts. The findings suggest that threat is the most powerful explanation of repression, whereas weakness only occasionally predicts repression and depends on country-specific contexts. The importance of the findings lie in their ability to emphasize (1) the universality of situational threat to police "on-the-ground" over theories that view a calculating state "up-above," and (2) the seemingly unified perception (in advanced democracies) of protest as an increasingly legitimate form of political participation that does not beget repression

Context (archaeology · Criminology · Geography · Perception · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Situational ethics · Sociology · State (computer science · Weakness · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social Psychology

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