An emerging scholarly consensus holds that non-violent mass protests recruit more participants and supporters than violent ones. As a result, protest movements that employ non-violent tactics are generally considered more likely to achieve their goals, such as regime change and democratization. Yet, few studies have evaluated what motivates individuals to support for non-violent mass action.
This presentation will provide insights from a survey experiment that investigated whether non-violent resistance induces citizen support for protest movements, and, if so, why. The focus of the experiment was on two distinct arguments for why individuals will prefer non-violent mass protest: 1) Is there a strategic logic whereby non-violent movements are supported for instrumental reasons? 2) Is there an intrinsic logic whereby non-violence is favored for its intrinsic moral superiority?
To elicit responses, the survey conducted a multi-factorial vignette experiment with respondents in a non-protest setting across more than 10 countries (mostly in Europe).
The New Research on Europe Seminar serves as a weekly forum in which CES Visiting Scholars present their work. The seminar encourages discussions across disciplinary as well as national boundaries. Papers may be circulated in advance, although this is not required. After each presentation, there is ample time for critique and discussion, followed by the CES Friday Lunch. This seminar is open to the public.
