ECPR

Install the app

Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.

Just tap Share then “Add to Home Screen”

ECPR

Install the app

Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.

Just tap Share then “Add to Home Screen”

A Persistent Legacy of Autocracy? Assessing Trends in Protest Participation in New Democracies

Civil Society
Comparative Politics
Democratisation
Political Participation
Social Movements
Quantitative
Political Regime
Protests
Philippe Joly
Freie Universität Berlin
Philippe Joly
Freie Universität Berlin

Abstract

The normalization of protest in Western societies has been a major development in the field of political participation over the last decades. This process is characterized, first, by a general increase in the propensity of citizens to take part in extra-electoral political actions, and, second, by the diffusion of these activities to virtually all segments of the population. While this evolution was at times perceived as a threat to democracy, it has now become accepted that extra-electoral participation complements, rather than substitutes, conventional participation. What remains unclear, however, is whether the normalization of protest is a unique feature of Western societies or a more generalized phenomenon, applicable to new democracies as well. Among the few longitudinal studies available on repertoires of contention in new democracies, some actually suggest that these countries are experiencing a decline in protest participation. Some authors attribute this trend to disappointment with the new regime; others to a legacy of autocracy. The latter suggest that repression of autonomous pluralism under dictatorship undermined the emergence of social movements after the transition. Using a broader set of evidence, this paper examines if third wave democracies went through a process of protest normalization or, conversely, if they faced a persistent ‘protest deficit’. The analysis relies on repeated surveys from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study. It covers 90 countries, including many new democracies, some of them for more than 30 years. Multilevel models are performed with separate estimations of within- and between-country effects. Preliminary results partially support the normalization thesis. They show that aggregate protest experience has increased in new democracies over the last years. Yet, this process kicks in many years after transition, potentially signaling a generational effect. Evidence suggests that unequal access to resources, rather than grievances, explains remaining individual differences in participation.