COORDINATING DEMANDS FOR SOCIAL-CHANGE

Mass protest movements resemble assurance games, in which individual d ecisions to contribute are contingent on the aggregate level of partic ipation. While participation in ineffective movements carries high cos ts and returns few collective and selective benefits, participation in successful social movements can be more advantageous than abstention. Supporters of a movement therefore try to coordinate their decisions with those of other activists, participating when it appears that the movement has sufficient popular support to be politically effective, b ut not otherwise. Such decisions, however, typically have to be made w ith considerable uncertainty about both the intentions of other indivi duals and the prospects of the movement as it develops. Given this ind ividual calculus, a number of deductions can be drawn about the resour ces, strategies, goals, and political conditions that will be required to coordinate and organize mass social protest.