From Madison to Wall Street: Assessing the Electoral Consequences of Protest on the Left

21 Pages Posted: 25 Nov 2011

Date Written: November 23, 2011

Abstract

This paper compares three movements with respect to their impact on elections: the Tea Party, the pro-labor protests in Madison and other capitals, and Occupy Wall Street. Findings: 1) Both the Tea Party and the labor protests have moved directly to electoral action. 2) The Tea Party increased its influence by its willingness to sabotage Republican Party chances of victory; the labor-based insurgency, in contrast, has never opposed a Democratic incumbent. 3) Occupy Wall Street is unlikely to lead to electoral activism by its participants, but has had a major indirect influence by changing the national issue agenda.

Keywords: Occupy Wall Street, Tea Party, protest, elections, activism, union, labor

Suggested Citation

Berg, John C., From Madison to Wall Street: Assessing the Electoral Consequences of Protest on the Left (November 23, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1963835 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1963835

John C. Berg (Contact Author)

Suffolk University ( email )

Boston, MA 02108
United States

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