Contributions to Political Science Mario Quaranta Political Protest in Western Europe Exploring the Role of Context in Political Action Contributions to Political Science Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/11829 Mario Quaranta Political Protest in Western Europe Exploring the Role of Context in Political Action 123 MarioQuaranta DepartmentofPoliticalScience LUISS“GuidoCarli” Rome,Italy ISSN2198-7289 ISSN2198-7297 (electronic) ContributionstoPoliticalScience ISBN978-3-319-22161-8 ISBN978-3-319-22162-5 (eBook) DOI10.1007/978-3-319-22162-5 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015950474 SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon ©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland 2015 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof thematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade. Printedonacid-freepaper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface At the beginning of this project, I realized that the literature on political protest often looked at either the characteristics of the participants, or at the contextual features that would ease or hinder the action of social movements. The study of political protest seemed, in my eyes, divided in two, non-communicating fields: that interested in the individual factors linked to the engagement of citizens in protest politics, and that interested in the characteristics of social movementsand theirinteractionwiththebroaderstructuralfeaturesofpoliticalsystems.Although the two approaches have yielded very relevant insights for the understanding of contentiouspolitics,mygoalwastocomplementthem,toinvestigatehowcontex- tual characteristics might be related to individual participation in protest actions, andhowthesecontextualfeaturesmightinteractwiththeindividualcharacteristics associatedwithprotest. This idea became a book. Here, I argue that contextual characteristics should be taken into account to explain engagement in political protest at the individual level. Indeed, individual characteristics do not provide a full account of the reasons why citizens get involved in political protest. Individuals live in larger contexts, which provide different opportunities and incentives for protest. For this reason, institutional and political contexts could be important to understand citizens’politicalbehaviors.Thisvolumeconnectsdifferenttheoreticalperspectives toanalyzepoliticalprotestinacomparativeperspective.Itpresentsanoverviewof theindividualcharacteristicsthataremorerelevanttounderstandpoliticalprotest, and it emphasizes the role of personal resources, dissatisfaction, organizations, politicalvaluesandattitudes.Moreover,itanalyzeshowdifferentcontextualfactors might account for the cross-country variation in the levels of political protest in Western European countries, and how these factors might account for the cross- country variation in the association between individualcharacteristics and protest participationusingcomparativesurveydata. Althoughtheinterestintherelationshipbetweenpoliticalbehaviorandcontex- tualandinstitutionalconfigurationsisnotnewinthefieldofpoliticalscience,this volumetriestofurtherexploreit.Certainly,protestisquitearelevantphenomenon. v vi Preface Severalscholarshaveemphasizedtheimportanceofprotestpoliticsindemocracies, asitworksasavehicleofchangeandasaformofnon-electoralrepresentation.In the end, I hope that this book will contribute to the field, providingan additional lookathowengagementinprotestworks. This volume originates from a long journey, which started during my PhD at the“InstitutoItalianodiScienzeUmane”inFlorence,Italy(now“ScuolaNormale Superiore”)andcontinuedintheDepartmentofPoliticalScienceatLUISS“Guido Carli”, in Rome, Italy, where I had the opportunity to carry on my research as a post-doctoral fellow. I would like to thank Leonardo Morlino, who has been a dedicated mentorand stronglypersuaded me to write this volume.Arlo Poletti as wellconstantlymotivatedmetopursuethispath.IwouldalsoliketothankClaudius Wagemann, who has always been a great guide. During my stay at the “Center fortheStudyofDemocracy”oftheUniversityofCalifornia–Irvine,USA,Russell Daltonprovidedmewithgenerousadviceandcommentedonsomeideasthatlater wouldbecomepartofthisbook.Iamreallygratefulforthat.Iamalsoindebtedto BernardGrofman,whoacceptedmeasavisitingfellowattheCenter.Thisvolume alsobenefittedfromthecomments,suggestions,andcriticismprovidedbythemany attendeesofthevariousconferenceswherepartsofthisvolumewerepresented. Sectionsofthisbookarepartiallybasedonpreviousarticles,forwhichIwould liketoacknowledgethepublishers’permissiontousethem.Chapter2re-analyzes and integrates an article that appeared in the European Political Science Review (2013, Measuring Political Protest in Western Europe: Assessing Cross-National Equivalence 5(1), 457–482). The theoretical sections of Chaps.4, 5, and 6 are based on some ideas presented in other articles. Yet, these chapters provide new and updated analyses. Sections 4.2 and 4.3 are drawn from an article published in the Journal of Civil Society (2014, Collective and Private Resources and the Inequalities of Non-violent Political Protest in European Countries 10(3), 294– 316). Sections 5.2 and 5.3 are based on an article published in the International Political Science Review (2013, The Impact of Institutional Decentralization on Protest in Western Europe 34(5), 502–518). Sections 6.2 and 6.3 derive from an articlepublishedintheRivistaItalianadiScienzaPolitica/ItalianPoliticalScience Review (2014, Political Dissatisfaction and Political Protest in Western Europe: WhatistheRoleofPartySystems?44(2),115–145). A special thank goes to Giulia, for her enormous support, encouragement, and inspiration, and, of course, for the careful reading and for all the thorough suggestionssheprovided. Milano,Italy MarioQuaranta June2015 Contents 1 Introduction:AMicro-MacroApproachtoPoliticalProtest ........... 1 1.1 DemocracyandPoliticalProtest ....................................... 1 1.2 GuidingQuestions ...................................................... 4 1.3 TheConceptofContext ................................................ 6 1.4 TheTheoreticalFramework............................................ 8 1.5 ResearchDesign ........................................................ 11 1.6 PlanfortheBook........................................................ 15 References..................................................................... 17 2 WhatIsProtest?ConceptandMeasurement............................. 21 2.1 Introduction ............................................................. 21 2.2 TheConceptofPoliticalProtest........................................ 22 2.3 TheMeasurementofPoliticalProtest.................................. 25 2.4 TheImportanceofMeasurementEquivalence ........................ 26 2.5 HowtoAssessEquivalence? ........................................... 27 2.6 BuildinganIndexofPoliticalProtestUsingSurveyData............ 29 2.7 AnIndexofPoliticalProtestinWesternEurope...................... 32 2.8 AlternativeMeasures ................................................... 37 2.9 Conclusion .............................................................. 40 References..................................................................... 42 3 WhoProtests?TheoreticalApproachesandEmpiricalEvidence...... 45 3.1 Introduction ............................................................. 45 3.2 IndividualResources.................................................... 46 3.3 Dissatisfaction........................................................... 51 3.4 Mobilization............................................................. 55 3.5 ValuesandOrientations................................................. 60 3.6 Conclusion .............................................................. 64 References..................................................................... 65 vii viii Contents 4 Individual Resourcesand PoliticalProtest:The Role ofWelfareStates ............................................................. 71 4.1 Introduction ............................................................. 71 4.2 WelfareStatesandProtest.............................................. 73 4.3 The Interplay Between Welfare States, Individual ResourcesandProtest................................................... 75 4.4 Measures................................................................. 78 4.5 DoWelfareStatesMatter?.............................................. 82 4.6 Conclusion .............................................................. 90 References..................................................................... 91 5 OrganizationsandPoliticalProtest:TheRoleofDecentralization .... 95 5.1 Introduction ............................................................. 95 5.2 DecentralizationandProtest............................................ 96 5.3 TheInterplayBetweenDecentralization,Organizations andProtest............................................................... 98 5.4 Measures................................................................. 100 5.5 DoesDecentralizationMatter?......................................... 103 5.6 Conclusion .............................................................. 108 References..................................................................... 109 6 DissatisfactionandPoliticalProtest:TheRoleofPartySystems....... 113 6.1 Introduction ............................................................. 113 6.2 PartySystemsandProtest .............................................. 115 6.3 TheInterplayBetweenPartySystems,Dissatisfaction andProtest............................................................... 118 6.4 Measures................................................................. 121 6.5 DoPartySystemsMatter?.............................................. 125 6.6 Conclusion .............................................................. 130 References..................................................................... 131 7 Conclusion.................................................................... 135 References..................................................................... 143 Index............................................................................... 145 List of Figures Fig.1.1 Interactive effects of context and individual characteristicsonparticipationinpoliticalprotest ................... 7 Fig.1.2 Theoreticalframeworkandresearchstrategy......................... 11 Fig.2.1 Heatmapofthemeansoftheitemsmeasuringpolitical protestinWesternEuropeancountries ............................... 31 Fig.2.2 ThemeansoftheindexofpoliticalprotestinWestern Europeancountries,with95%confidenceintervals ................. 34 Fig.2.3 The distribution of the index of political protest inthecomparablecountries ........................................... 36 Fig.2.4 Meanoftheindexofpoliticalprotestusingthreeitems fromtheEuropeanValuesStudy,theInternationalSocial SurveyProgrammeandtheEuropeanSocialSurvey fortheavailablecountries ............................................. 40 Fig.3.1 Theindexofpoliticalprotestbylevelsofeducation, meansbycountrywith95%confidenceintervals ................... 47 Fig.3.2 Theindexofpoliticalprotestbyagecategories,means bycountrywith95%confidenceintervals............................ 51 Fig.3.3 The association between political protestand life satisfaction, correlation coefficients by country with95%confidenceintervals ....................................... 53 Fig.3.4 The association between political protest and dissatisfaction with democracy,correlation coefficientsbycountrywith95%confidenceintervals ............. 54 Fig.3.5 The index of political protest by categories of the post-materialism scale, means by country with95%confidenceintervals ....................................... 62 ix