Individual Logics of Civil Resistance

• In Event: The Dynamics of Civil Resistance

Abstract

A growing literature considers the impacts of non-violent mass protest movements, and an emerging consensus is that non-violent protest is more successful when it comes to achieving regime-change and democracy. Yet, no studies have looked at the individual-level causes of support for (and participation in) non-violent as opposed to violent civil resistance. We conduct a survey experiment to elucidate the factors that lead people to prefer (in terms of support and participation) non-violent over violent protest, focusing on two distinct logics: A strategic logic whereby non-violent protest is preferred for instrumental reasons, and a moral logic where non-violence is chosen for its intrinsic moral superiority. The experiment presents respondents with a news story describing an ongoing mass resistance campaign to (both real and fictional) autocratic regimes. We randomly vary different features of the resistance movement, and ask respondents about potential support and hypothetical participation. We perform this survey in a nationally representative sample of 3000 respondents in a democratic (US) and non-democratic setting. Our analysis finds evidence consistent with both logics, although the instrumentalist logic seems to be somewhat more powerful.

Authors

• Tore Wig, University of Oslo

• Sirianne Dahlum, Peace Research Institute Oslo