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The Role of Identity and Threat on Political Participation: Election Protests versus Ceremonial Demonstrations

Tue, August 19, 2:30 to 4:10pm, TBA

Abstract

As the third wave of global democratization reaches new regions of the global South we observe an upsurge in protests over the legitimacy of electoral processes and outcomes. Analysts of social movement recruitment and participation have identified basic mechanisms for joining collective action such as ideological beliefs, social networks, collective identities, and biographical availability. However, we know much less about protest participation in the volatile period of elections. In this study we compare the individual motivations to participate in demonstrations involving elections versus ceremonial demonstrations. We examine these two mobilization contexts by employing an innovative survey sampling technique within actual protest events by comparing five major demonstrations in Mexico City between 2011 and 2012. While participants in both electoral and ceremonial demonstrations were motivated by social networks, new social media technologies, and movement identities, only electoral-based protests participants were moved to participate by the perceived threat in the erosion of democracy. Hence, different motivational pathways exist for participants in protest depending on the nature of the demonstrations. New democracies may be more susceptible to mass street actions if the electoral process itself lacks sufficient transparency and legitimacy in the view of substantial sectors of civil society.

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