Do principles matter? The role of political dissatisfaction in demonstrations

Abstract

Abstract In the last few decades, political dissatisfaction has not been in the focus of studies explaining participation in collective political action. Hechter, Pfaff, and Underwood (2016) stressed that “literature has thrown the baby out with the bath water,” when studies disregarded political dissatisfaction and overemphasized other factors like organizational resources and framing processes. Following Linde and Ekman’s (2003) argumentation, we differentiate between evaluations about system principles and system performance as sources of political dissatisfaction. We refine the concept of dissatisfaction based on the theories by Kriesi (Kriesi 2013, Bühlmann–Kriesi 2013, Ferrín–Kriesi 2016) using the European comparative dataset (European Social Survey, Round 6). Moreover we elucidate the mechanism linking different types of dissatisfaction to protest activity. The aim of this article is to clarify the concept of political dissatisfaction and to show its relevance as a driver of participation in collective action. We also answer the questions: “What forms of political dissatisfaction drive citizens to participate in collective action?” and “Does dissatisfaction with implemented principles like political and personal rights have any additional impact on participation, compared to more tangible regime performance?” Keywords: protest political participation, dissatisfaction, democratic values, ESS 2012