A Test of the Relative Efficacy of Political Tactics

Abstract

The choice of tactics utilized by groups to achieve social change is a hotly debated but little researched topic. Examining the relative effects of black electoral power, black protest politics, and riots, controlling for need, indicates that the level of black electoral power and nonviolent protest significantly influenced changes in the number of Mississippi welfare recipients 1960-1970. The results of a path model with two mediating changes indicate that all three political tactics are efficacious. Black electoral power influences changes in the approval rate; nonviolent protest and riots influence changes in the size of the applicant pool. Thus, it appears that all three tactics cause policy changes but in different fashions.