POLITICAL OPPORTUNITY AND PEACE AND JUSTICE ADVOCACY IN THE 1980S - ATALE OF 2 SECTORS

This paper explores the relationship between political context and pub lic interest group mobilization by comparing the responses of peace an d social justice groups to the first Reagan administration's programs. Advocates in both group sectors viewed these policies as particularly provocative, demanding vigorous and coherent opposition. The peace se ctor generated this opposition, but social justice sector advocacy act ually declined. The authors explain this difference by looking at the different political opportunities each sector confronted: political ec onomy, public policy, issue salience, and partisan and elite alignment . They conclude that elite support is most critical to successful publ ic interest advocacy, and suggest this raises important questions abou t the nature of interest group representation in U.S. politics.