This work deals with the phenomena of political consumerism in Israel, while trying to build a conceptual framework that explain the interaction between three players: social-Political entrepreneurs, firms in the market and the state as well as the rationalization behind their strategies. The model start with the basic assumption that entrepreneurs use political consumerism strategies (i.e. boycott and buycott) due to several structural causes: (1) The Israeli government''s failure and the rise of alternative politics (2) the rapid development of a consumer society which is influenced by liberalization and global economy (3) cultural changes towards post-material values in the Israeli society. Altogether, these structural factors create a social problem with issues that the government is incapable of designing and creating a coherent and stable public policy. Based on the above, entrepreneurs appear, identify the problem they are concerned with and look for a solution. At this stage they have two options. The first one - if the level of governability is high and the conventional political channels are open - the entrepreneurs will choose to make a social and political change via the formal channel, affecting public policy from the top. The second one- if the level of governability is relatively low and the conventional channels are blocked, the entrepreneurs will try to achieve this change using political consumerism strategies. The effort to make the social change using these strategies is an example for a social change achieved via "alternative politics" channel. While rises from below, this channel transforms the market into a political arena. This model is examined using several case studies/ campaigns in Israel which can be divided into three dimensions. First, the environmental dimension regarding issues of animals'' rights (mainly opposing animals'' experiments). Second, the social dimension regarding issues of workers'' rights and accessibility. Third, the religious dimension where entrepreneurs use political consumerism strategies in the struggle over issues of Sabbath observation in the public sphere. This research will contribute to the discussion of social-political entrepreneurs and their strategies, focusing on political consumerism as a tool for social and political changes. In the recent decades, especially due to the strengthening influence of globalization, this relatively old tool has been revived by scholars from Europe and North America but to the best of my knowledge my research is the first one that deals with it in Israel. In addition, the conceptual model, which is the main scientific contribution, can be implemented in other countries where entrepreneurs try to use the citizens’ purchasing power to influence firms and government and market practices.
