Resource Mobilization and Political Opportunity in the Nicaraguan Revolution:

Abstract

Abstract. A previous paper in this Journal presented a resource mobilization‐political opportunities paradigm about violent revolution in the Third World. Key propositions put forward in the previous paper find empirical support in a study of the Nicaraguan revolution. In keeping with the paradigm, the Nicaraguan revolution occurred after a period of economic growth during which urbanization, school enrollments, and the size of the middle class increased. Also consistent with the paradigm was the existence of an organization of professional revolutionaries espousing a Marxist‐Leninist ideology which received resources from abroad, especially from Castro's Cuba. The Sandinista National Liberation Front put into practice a number of strategems which the paradigm considers to be promising in a revolution, including staging paralyzing acts of institutional disruption, enlisting the aid of social and economic elites, and deceiving the public and its allies about the true goals of the organization. Also, the FSLN was adept at exploiting political opportunities and realignments which left the Somoza regime weakened and vulnerable.