What Drives Individual Participation in Mass Protests? Grievance Politicization, Recruitment Networks and Street Demonstrations in Romania

Abstract

Participation in street demonstrations has become a key form of political action used by citizens to make their voice heard in the political process. Since mass protests can disrupt political agendas and bring about substantial policy change, it is important to understand who the protesters are, what motivates them to participate and how are they (de)mobilized. This article develops a two-stage model for examining patterns of protest mobilization in Romania. Using multivariate analysis of survey data, this article shows that grievances, biographical availability, social networks, and political engagement variables have different weight in explaining willingness to demonstrate on the one hand, and actual participation in street protests, on the other hand. The findings suggest that protest potential is primarily driven by selective processes of grievance politicization, while recruitment networks and organizational ties seem to play a key role in moving people from willingness to demonstrate to actual protest participation.