Institutional Distrust and Tactical Repertoires in the European Social Movement Sector

• In Event: 3451 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 12. Repertoires, Tactics, and Strategies

Abstract

Institutional distrust has become a pervasive element of global society broadly and European society locally. Concurrently, participation in institutions is also declining, raising concerns about the effectiveness of civil society (Kostadinova & Power 2007). Distrust of institutions like the political system, education system, legal-judicial and law enforcement systems is linked to declining participation in mainstream political behavior like voting (Dalton 2004), but it is unclear how individual’s trust of and participation in certain institutions affects social movement activity and participation in protest. In this study, I use recent European protest movements as a case study to better understand the link between institutional distrust, institutional participation and social protest. Using the 7th wave of the European Social Survey, I construct a series of multilevel mixed-effects logistic regressions predicting participation in four forms of protest: signing petitions, boycotting products, wearing protest badges and participating in demonstrations. Results indicate that while institutional distrust is moderately linked to certain forms of protest, those who actively participate in mainstream political organizations are far more likely to participate in all forms of protest. Contemporary European protest behavior is mediated by citizen’s relationships with institutions. I conclude with implications for the European social movement sector.

Author

• Matthew Schoene, Albion College