Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Missing Link: Informal Political Elites And Protest In Areas Of Limited Statehood, Patrick Hunnicutt, Kou Gbaintor-Johnson
The Missing Link: Informal Political Elites And Protest In Areas Of Limited Statehood, Patrick Hunnicutt, Kou Gbaintor-Johnson
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
What explains protest mobilization in areas of limited statehood, where the government struggles to make and enforce rules? We adapt existing theory to explain protest mobilization through a comparative perspective, beginning with the proposition that informal political elites who mediate citizens’ interactions with the government in areas of limited statehood represent a crucial but understudied source of political opportunity. We specifically argue that informal political elites who are effective intermediaries between citizens and the state moderate the relationship between grievances and protest at the individual-level. Six months of fieldwork in Liberia substantiates this claim. Leveraging an original, high-frequency household panel …