THE CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS’ ACTIVITIES IN MODERN DEMOCRACIES: INFLUENCE MODELS AND POTENTIAL FOR POLITICAL OF CHANGE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2312-1815/2025-20-19Keywords:
social movement, democracy, mediation, public opinion, political alliances, changes, opportunities, protest, media, opposition, state policyAbstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of social movements and its results in democratic societies. The paper analyzes the social movements’ ability to influence the government in order to achieve certain goals, as well as to lead to political changes. The special attention is paid to study of models to social movements’ influence, in particular the model of indirect impact. It is noted that movements do not have sufficient opportunities to direct influence on state policy and, accordingly, have negligible chance of directly achieving significant political changes. The social movements need help from the mediators, which are usually public opinion and/or political alliances, in order to achieve its own goals. It was found that the importance of public opinion for the movement to bring about changes lies in the fact that elites are sensitive to the demands of citizens in order to maintain their power. Social movements influence the public opinion, changing it in their own interests. Political elites immediately react to any changes in public opinion, which will adjust their behavior accordingly. The changes in public opinion should be combined with the appropriate changes in state policy. The importance of political alliances as mediators of social movements is analyzed. In particular, it is noted that movements need the support of powerful political allies who make their demands in institutional arenas. Social movements are unlikely to change the course of politics in the absence of such mediation. The importance of the existence and activity of social movements in democratic societies and the availability of the potential for political change in social movements, mainly in an mediated format, are stressed in the conclusions.
References
Amenta E., Caren N., Chiarello E., Su Y. The Political Consequences of Social Movements. Annual Review of Sociology. 2010. Vol.36 (1). P. 287–307.
Bidé Y. M. Social Movements and Processes of Political Change: The Political Outcomes of the Chilean Student Movement, 2011–2015. Providence. 2015. URL: https://watson.brown.edu/ir/files/ir/imce/honors/Bid%C3%A9_Final2015.pdf
Bosi L., Uba K. Introduction: The Outcomes of Social Movements. Mobilization: An International Quarterly. 2009. Vol.14 (4). P. 409–415.
Burstein, P., Linton, A. The Impact of Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Social Movement Organizations on Public Policy: Some Recent Evidence and Theoretical Concerns. Social Forces. 2002. Vol.81 (2). P. 381–408.
Burstein P., Sausner S. The Incidence and Impact of Policy-Oriented Collective Action: Competing Views. Sociological Forum. 2005. Vol.20 (3). P. 403–419.
Gamson W. A. The Strategy of Social Protest. The Dorsey Series in Sociology. Homewood, Ill: Dorsey Press, 1975. 217 p.
Giugni M., Passy F. Social Movements and Policy Change: Direct, Mediated, or Joint Effect? 1998. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228491434_Social_Movements_and_Policy_Change_Direct_Mediated_or_Joint_Effect
Giugni M. Social Protest and Policy Change: Ecology, Antinuclear, and Peace Movements in Comparative Perspective. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. 320 p.
Giugni M. Was It Worth the Effort? The Outcomes and Consequences of Social Movements. Annual Review of Sociology. 1998. Vol. 24. P. 371–393.
Johnston H. What Is a Social Movement? What Is Sociology? Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2014. P. 139.
Silva E. Social Movements, Protest, and Policy. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe. 2015. Vol. 100. P. 35.
Snow D. A., Soule S. A., Kriesi H. The Cultural Consequences of Social Movements. Methods, Movements, and Outcomes. Methodological Difficulties in the Study of Extra-Movement Outcomes / J. Earl. Malden : MA: Blackwell Pub, 2004. P. 508–530.
Tarrow S. G. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Rev. & updated 3rd ed. Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 352 p.
Tilly Ch. From Interactions to Outcomes in Social Movements. How Social Movements Matter. Ed. Giugni, Marco, McAdam Doug and Charles Tilly. Social Movements, Protest, and Contention. Minneapolis, Minn: University of Minnesota Press. 1999. Vol. 10 P. 253–270.
Tilly Ch., Tarrow S. G. Contentious Politics. Second Edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2015. 288 p.
