Running uphill: Political opportunity in non-democracies

Maryjane Osa*, Cristina Corduneanu-Huci

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

This study analyzes twenty-four cases of occurrence/non-occurrence of mobilization in non-democratic states to determine conditions of political opportunity in high-risk authoritarian contexts. Ragin's (1987) Boolean method of qualitative comparison (QCA 3.0) is used to identify specific configurations of conditions that constitute political opportunity in non-democracies. We find that political opportunity is sensitive to conditions created by divided elites, changes in repression, media access, influential allies, and social networks. Our analysis identifies four configurations that create an opening for mobilization under authoritarian conditions. The key factors, identified by QCA in the most parsimonious model, are media access and social networks. These two factors are sufficient conditions for producing mobilization in non-democratic states.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)605-630
Number of pages26
JournalComparative Sociology
Volume2
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2003
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Running uphill: Political opportunity in non-democracies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this