The Political Power of Protest: Minority Activism and Shifts in Public Policy (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics)

This Book Demonstrates The Direct Influence That Political Protest Behavior Has On Congress, The Presidency, And The Supreme Court, Illustrating That Protest Is A Form Of Democratic Responsiveness That Government Officials Have Used, And Continue To Draw On, To Implement Federal Policies. Focusing On Racial And Ethnic Minority Concerns, This Book Shows That The Context Of Political Protest Has Served As A Signal For Political Preferences. As Pro-minority Rights Behavior Grew And Anti-minority Rights Actions Declined, Politicians Learned From Minority Protest And Responded When They Felt Emboldened By Stronger Informational Cues Stemming From Citizens' Behavior, A Theory Referred To As The Information Continuum. Given The Influence That Minority Protest Actions Have Wielded Over National Government, The Book Offers A Powerful Implication. Although The Shift From Protest To Politics As A Political Strategy Has Opened The Door For Institutionalized Political Opportunity, Racial And Ethnic Minorities Have Neglected A Powerful Tool To Illustrate The Inequalities That Exist In Contemporary Society-- Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. A Continuum Of Information: The Influence Of Minority Political Protest; 2. Measuring Information In Minority Protest; 3. Viewing Minority Protest From The Hill: The Response From An Individual And Collective Body Of Congress; 4. Knocking On The President's Door: The Impact Of Minority Protest On Presidential Responsiveness; 5. Appealing To An Unlikely Branch: Minority Political Protest And The Supreme Court; 6. Conclusion: Settling Protest Dust And A Future Outlook On Minority Policies. Daniel Q. Gillion, University Of Pennsylvania. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The Political Power of Protest 3 Series 5 Title 7 Copyright 8 Contents 9 Figures 10 Tables 12 Preface 13 Acknowledgments 15 Introduction 17 Modern Perspectives on the Impact of Minority Protest 20 Minority Protest as a Continuum of Information 23 Defining Governmental Response to a Collective Minority 26 Contribution and Implications 28 Structure of the Book 31 1 A Continuum of Information 35 Focusing on the Parts in the Sum of Protest 36 The Continuum of Information Theory 39 How Political Institutions Use the Information in Political Protest 45 Congress 46 The President 47 Supreme Court 48 Expectations for the Impact of Minority Political Protest 50 Considering Information Continuum Theory Alongside Political Opportunities, Repression, and Public Opinion 51 Conclusion 54 2 Measuring Information in Minority Protest 55 Existing Approaches to Measuring Minority Protest 55 Placing Minority Protest along a Continuum 57 The Layout and Trends of Informative Minority Protest 61 Minority Protest and the Public’s Changing Attitudes on Racial Issues 66 Plan of Analysis 71 Conclusion 72 3 Viewing Minority Protest from the Hill 73 Considering the Collective and the Individual 74 The LA Riots and District-Level Information 77 A Collective Response from the House of Representatives 81 Individual Representatives’ Responses 86 Informative Protest, Political Parties, and Race 95 Conclusion 98 4 Knocking on the President’s Door 100 How Presidents Use the Information in Protest 102 Snippets of History: The President’s Race-Related Policies and Political Protest 104 Kennedy and Civil Rights 105 Lyndon Johnson and Civil Rights 106 Richard Nixon and the Chicano Movement 106 Jimmy Carter and the Black College Day March 108 Ronald Reagan and Anti-Apartheid Protests 110 George H. W. Bush and the LA Riots 112 William Clinton and the Million Man March 113 Benefits and Limitations of the Historical Approach 115 The Various Ways a President Can Respond 115 Presidential Reaction to Informative Minority Protest 120 Conclusion 130 5 Appealing to an Unlikely Branch 133 Information Continuum: Barriers and Benefits in the Judicial Setting 136 Barriers to Informative Minority Protest 136 Benefits of an Information Continuum 138 Influencing Aggregate Decisions 145 Examining the Court as a Unified Body 153 Examining Decisions of Individual Justices 156 Conclusion 160 Conclusion 163 Reshaping Future Studies of Protest Behavior 166 From Protest to Politics ... and the Information Lost in the Process 169 The Future Political Landscape: Minority Protest in a Post-Racial Society 173 Conclusion 175 Appendix A Defining Minority Political Protest 177 Appendix B Study Description and Coding Across Multiple Institutions 181 Appendix C Time Series Methods 187 References 189 Index 205 Series 209 1cover.pdf 1 cover.pdf 1 Cover 1 cover_blank.pdf 2 "This book demonstrates the direct influence that political protest behavior has on Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court, illustrating that protest is a form of democratic responsiveness that government officials have used, and continue to draw on, to implement federal policies. Focusing on racial and ethnic minority concerns, this book shows that the context of political protest has served as a signal for political preferences. As pro-minority rights behavior grew and anti-minority rights actions declined, politicians learned from minority protest and responded when they felt emboldened by stronger informational cues stemming from citizens' behavior, a theory referred to as the "information continuum." Given the influence that minority protest actions have wielded over national government, the book offers a powerful implication. Although the shift from protest to politics as a political strategy has opened the door for institutionalized political opportunity, racial and ethnic minorities have neglected a powerful tool to illustrate the inequalities that exist in contemporary society"-- Provided by publisher "This book demonstrates the direct influence that political protest behavior has on Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court, illustrating that protest is a form of democratic responsiveness that government officials have used, and continue to draw on, to implement federal policies. Focusing on racial and ethnic minority concerns, this book shows that the context of political protest has served as a signal for political preferences. As pro-minority rights behavior grew and anti-minority rights actions declined, politicians learned from minority protest and responded when they felt emboldened by stronger informational cues stemming from citizens' behavior, a theory referred to as the "information continuum." Given the influence that minority protest actions have wielded over national government, the book offers a powerful implication. Although the shift from protest to politics as a political strategy has opened the door for institutionalized political opportunity, racial and ethnic minorities have neglected a powerful tool to illustrate the inequalities that exist in contemporary society"--Résumé de l'éditeur This book demonstrates the direct influence that political protest behavior has on Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court, illustrating that protest is a form of democratic responsiveness that government officials have used, and continue to draw on, to implement federal policies. Focusing on racial and ethnic minority concerns, this book shows that the context of political protest has served as a signal for political preferences. As pro minority rights behavior grew and anti minority rights actions declined, politicians learned from minority protest and responded when they felt emboldened by stronger informational cues stemming from citizens' behavior, a theory referred to as the information continuum. Given the influence that minority protest actions have wielded over national government, the book offers a powerful implication. Although the shift from protest to politics as a political strategy has opened the door for institutionalized political opportunity, racial and ethnic minorities have neglected a powerful tool to illustrate the inequalities that exist in contemporary society. Gillion demonstrates the direct influence that political protest behavior has on Congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court, illustrating that protest is a form of democratic responsiveness that government officials have used, and continue to draw on, to implement federal policies. Focusing on racial and ethnic minority concerns, this book shows that the context of political protest has served as a signal for political preferences. As pro-minority rights behavior grew and anti-minority rights actions declined, politicians learned from minority protest and responded when they felt emboldened by stronger informational cues stemming from citizens' behavior, a theory referred to as the 'information continuum'. Although the shift from protest to politics as a political strategy has opened the door for institutionalized political opportunity, racial and ethnic minorities have neglected a powerful tool to illustrate the inequalities that exist in contemporary society.