Support for Protest Methods and Political Strategies Among Peace Movement Activists: Comparing the United States, Great Britain and the Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

Recent studies of public involvement in postindustrial democracies have suggested that a new style of politics has emerged over the last two decades (Dalton 1988). This new style of politics is characterized in major part by an expansion of the parameters of appropriate political action beyond reliance upon conventional political channels. Some commentators argue that support for new modes of participation arise out of sociopolitical changes occurring in the postwar period (Ciglar and Loomis 1983: chap 1; Inglehart 1977). Economic growth, prosperity and political stability arising from the absence of global warfare have given rise to new demands on government by an increasingly knowledgeable public. It has been further argued that contemporary citizen organizations and social movements are more likely than were those of older generations to engage in elite challenging political activities such as demonstrations and boycotts (Szabo 1983). Contemporary political conflicts arising over increasingly complex and technically sophisticated issues have generated the advent of many new interest groups (or the revival of extant groups) which draw a wide range of citizens into the politcal process via single issue concerns. One such policy area where this type of political conflict has arisen falls within the domain of nuclear deterrence (Dahl 1985). Traditionally, the politics of nuclear deterrence was largely insulated from