What is driving protestors to the streets? Personal Connections vs Political Attitudes as Mobilizing Mechanisms

Using an innovative survey of protest participants and non-participants within eight major street demonstrations in Mexico City between 2011 and 2013, I analyze what factors tend to better predict protest participation. In particular I compare two types of mobilizing factors: personal connections (being invited to take part) or political attitudes and knowledge. The results of this study suggest that while personal connections matter, protest participants tend to be politically involved individuals. They tend to have more political participation experience than non-participants, and they feel that their participation is efficacious. Most importantly, protest participants tend to hold a more left-leaning ideology and more liberal values. Still, the propensity to participate in protest movements appears to be relatively high among non-participants. These results suggest that protestors are closely tied to fellow participants. However, they are also mobilize because of their level of political involvement. Hence, they are far from being young, uneducated, and radical individuals, as the conservative media want us to believe.