Political reform and the historical trajectories of u.s. social movements in the twentieth century

Authors

Edwin Amenta, University of California, Irvine
Neal Caren, The University of North Carolina System
James E. Stobaugh, Arkansas Tech UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2012

Abstract

We propose a political reform theory, a political and historical institutionalist argument that holds that shifts in political structures, partisan regimes and policy greatly influence movements. We appraise this argument, along with resource mobilization, political opportunity and media alternatives, by analyzing 600,000 articles in the New York Times and Washington Post that mention national U.S. social movement organizations (SMOs) in the largest 34 SMO industries across the twentieth century. We provide multivariate analyses of industry-level article mentions of SMOs and detailed analyses of the historical trajectories of coverage across the century. Although we find some support for major theories of movements and media influences, the political reform theory is strongly supported and outperforms standard political opportunity models. We conclude with suggestions to synthesize theories and for research on movement and media outcomes. © The Author 2012. All rights reserved.

DOI

10.1093/sf/sos067

First Page

1073

Last Page

1100

Volume

90

Issue

4

Publication Title

Social Forces

ISSN

00377732

Comments

At the time of publication, James E. Stobaugh was affiliated with University of California, Irvine.

Recommended Citation

Amenta, E., Caren, N., & Stobaugh, J. E. (2012). Political reform and the historical trajectories of u.s. social movements in the twentieth century. Social Forces, 90(4), 1073-1100. doi:10.1093/sf/sos067