Assignment Instructions: Write a 3-5 page (750-1250 words) essay, answering the following question:

Gurr1970WhymenrebelCh.1-2.pdf

Home >Government homework help >Assignment Instructions: Write a 3-5 page (750-1250 words) essay, answering the following question:

¡, IÍ " ,,, fJ.' ,, .: (Í ,; e] 11 'li )\

l. E x

p la

n a

tio n

s o f P

o litica

l V io

len ce

C onflict ... is a them

e that has occupied ti1e thinking of m

an m ore than any other,

save only G od and !ove. A

natol R apoport,

F ights, C

arnes, and D ebates

T H

E IN

S T

IT U

T IO

N S

, persons, an d

policies of rulers have inspired th

e violent w rath of th

eir nom inal subjects throughout the history

of organized political life. A survey of the histories of E

u ro

p ean

states

an d

em pires, spanning tw

enty-four centuries, show s that

th ey

averaged only four peaceful years for each year of violent dis-

ff f

turbances.1 M o

d em

nations have no b etter record: b

etw een

1961 an

d 1968 sorne form

of violent civil conflict reportedly occurred in ll4

of the w orld's 121 larger nations an

d colonies.

2 M ost acts of

group violence have negligible effects on political life; b u

t sorne have b

een enorm

ously destructive of h u

m an

life an d

corrosive of political institutions. T

en of th

e w orld' s thirteen m

ost deadly con- flicts in th

e past H>O years have b een

civil w ars an

d rebellions; 3

since 1945, violent attem pts to overthrow

govem m

ents have b een

"r'

m ore com

m on than national elections. T

h e counterpoise to this

grim record is th

e fact that political violence has som etim

es led

to th e creation of n

ew an

d m

ore satisfying political com m

unities. T

h e consequences of th

e A m

erican, T urkish, M

exican, an d

R us-

sian revolutions testify in different w

ays to th e occasional benefi-

cen ce of violence.

In this study political violence refers to all collective attacks

1 P itirim

S orokin, Social and C

ultural D ynam

ics, V ol. III: F

luctuations o f Social

R elationships, W

ar and R evolutions (N

ew Y

m k: A

m erican B

ook C o., 1937), 409-

475. T w

elve countries and em pires w

ere studied over the period 500 B .C

. to 1925 A

.D ., none of them

for the entire span. O nly "im

portant" disturbances w ere re-

corded, i.e., those m entioned in standard histories.

2 B ased in part on data for 114 polities reported in

T ed

R obert G

urr, "A C

om -

parative S tudy of C

ivil S trife," in H

ugh D avis G

raham and T

ed R

obert G urr, eds.,

V iolence in A

m erica: H

istorical and C om

parative P erspectives (W

ashington, D .C

.: N

ational C om

m ission on the C

auses and P revention of V

iolence, 1969). 3 A

ccording to data collected by L ew

is F . R

ichardson, Statistics o f D

eadly Q uar-

rels (P ittsburgh: T

h e B

oxw ood P

ress, 1960), 32-43, to w hich events after 1948 are

added here. T h

e conflic;ts m ost destructive of life w

ere W orld W

ars 1 and Il. O f the

other eleven al! b u

t one w ere prim

arily interna! w ars and al! caused m

ore than 300,000 deaths each; the T

ai-P 'ing R

ebellion, 1851-64; the A m

erican C ivil W

ar; the G

reat W ar in L

a P lata, 1865-70; the post-revolutionary C

ivil W ar in R

ussia, 1918-20;

the first

and second C hinese C

ivil W ars, 1927-36 and 1945-49; the

S panish C

ivil W ar; the com

m unal riots in India and P

akistan, 1946-48; the V iet-

nam W

ar, 1961-present; the prívate w ar betw

een Indonesian C om

m unists and their

opponents, 1964-66 (casualty

figures are

problem atic);

and the N igerian C

ivil W

ar, 1 9

6 7

3 t i

r . J t; t ! 1 ' 1

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

w ithin a political com

m unity against th

e political regim e, its actors

- including com

peting political groups as w ell as in

cu rn

b en

ts- or its policies. T

h e co

n cep

t represents a set of events, a com m

on property of w

hich is the actual or th reaten

ed use of violence, b

u t

the explanation is n o

t lim ited

to th at property. T

h e co

n cep

t sub- sum

es revolution, ordinarily defined as fundam ental sociopoliti-

cal change accom plished through violence. lt also includes guer-

rilla w ars, coups d

' état, rebellions, an d

riots. P olitical violence is

in tu rn

su b

su m

ed u

n d

er "force," th e use or threat of violence b

any party or institution to attain en d

s w ithin or outside the political

order. T h

e definition is n o

t b ased

on a prejudgm ent th

at political violence is undesirable. L

ike th e uses of violence q

u a force by th

e state, specific acts of political violence can b

e good, bad, or neutral according to th

e view point of th

e observer. P articipants in

political violence m

ay value it as a m eans 'of expressing political dem

ands or opposing u

n d

esirab le policies. L

im ited violence also can b

e useful for rulers an

d for a political system

generally, especially as an expression of social m

alaise w h

en other m

eans for m aking

dem ands are inadequate. E

thical judgm ents are h

eld in abeyance

in this study to avoid dictating its conclusions. B

ut it does not re- quire an ethical ju

d g

m en

t to observe that in ten

se violence is de- structive: even if sorne political violence is v

alu ed

by b o

th citizens

an d

rulers, the greater its m agnitude the less efficiently a political

system fulfills

its o

th er functions. V

iolence generally consum es

m en

and goods, it seldom enhances them

. 4

D esp

ite the frequency an d

social ím pact of political violence, it

is not now a conventional category of social analysis. Y

et sorne com -

m on properties of political violence encourage attention to it rather

than m ore general or m

ore specific concepts. T heoretically, all

such acts pose a th reat to th

e political system in

tw o senses: th

challenge the m onopoly of force im

p u

ted to th

e state in political theory; and, in

functional term s, th

ey are likely to interfere w

ith and, if severe, to destroy norm

al political processes. E m

pirical justification for selecting political violence as a universe for analy- sis is provided by statistical ev

id en

ce that political violence com -

prises events distinct from o

th er m

easured characteristics of na- tions, an

d hom

ogeneous en o

u g

h to justify analysis of th

eir com m

on characteristics

an d

causes. F

o r exam

ple, countries experiencing 4 It is possible th

at political violence can increase the sum total of satisfactions

of society's m em

bers. T his can b

e true if violence and its im m

ediate effects are intrinsically valued m

ore than th e m

aterial and h u

m an

resources it consum es, or

if violence serves a popularly approved regulatory function, as it d id

for th e A

m eri-

can vigilante m ovem

ents. __ A hypothetical relationship of this type is show

n sche- m

atically in fig. A

. lt is likely th at high m

agnitudes of violence destroy m ore than

they create, at least in th

e short run. W h

en the tim

e dim ension is taken into ac-

E X

PL A

N A

T IO

N S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

extensive poli ti cal violence of one k in

d -

w h

eth er riots, terrorism

, coups d'etat, or guerrilla w

a r-a

re rather likely to experience other

kinds of political violence, b u

t are n eith

er m ore or less likely to

b e en

g ag

ed in

foreign conflict. 5 T h

e properties an d

processes that distinguish

a riot from

revolution are substantively an d

the- oretically interesting, and are exam

ined at len g

th in

this study, b u

t at a general leve! of analysis th

ey seem

to b e differences of degree,

not kind. 6 T h

e search for general causes an d

processes of política! violence is further en

co u

rag ed

by th e convergence of recen

t case, com

parative, an d

theoretical studies. O n

e striking feature of these studies is th

e sim ilarity of m

any of th e causal factors and proposi-

tions th ey

identify, w h

eth er they deal w

ith revolution, urban riot- ing, or o

th er forros of political violence. T

his sim ilarity suggests

th at sorne of th

eir findings can b e synthesized in

a m ore efficient

set of testable generalizations. H

o w

ev er good th

e prospects seem for a general analysis of poli ti-

cal violence, research o n

it has b een

quite u n

ev en

, both in sub-

count, how ever, in

ten se political violence, though it destroys m

uch in th e short

run, m ay have th

e long-run payoffs eith er of stim

ulating rulers to increase outputs or of restructuring society in

such a w ay that total satisfactions are substantially

increased. T his kind of relationship is sketched in fig. B

G ain

O verall

V alue

P osition

M agnitudes"'-.of

L oss

1 violence

F igure A

high

F igure A

. H

ypothetical effects o f vio-

len ce o

n satisfactions in

a society in w

hich violence is valued, at tim e X

G ain

O verall

V olue

P osition

L oss

Y eor

F igure B

. H

ypothetical effects of in- tense

violence on

satisfactions in

a society in w

hich violence leads to re- forros, over tim

e. 5 R

udolph R

um m

el, "D

im ensions

of C onflict

B ehavior W

ithin an

B etw

een N

ations," G

eneral System

s Y

earbook, V

III (1963),

1-50; an

R aym

ond T anter,

"D im

ensions of

C onflict

B ehavior W

ithin and

B etw

een

N ations,

1958-1960," ]ournal o

f C onfiict R

esolution, X (M

arch 1966), 41-64. T h

ere are statistically sig- nificant relations am

ong sorne form s of interna! and externa! conflict, b

u t they are

relatively w eak. F

o r factor-analytic evidence that types of political violence are

in d

ep en

d en

t of m ost m

easu red

characteristics of nations, see R udolph R

um m

el, "D

im ensionality of N

ations P roject; O

rthogonally R otated F

actor T ables for 236

V ariables," D

ep artm

en t of P

olitical S cience, Y

ale U niversity (N

ew H

aven, July 1964), m

im eographed.

8 B illington points out, for exam

ple, that the R ussian R

evolution com prised an

''insurgency" from b

elo w

-actu ally

extensive rioting an d

m u

tin ies-fo

llo w

ed by a

coup d 'état a

n d

a protracted civil w

ar. Jam es H

. B illington, "S

ix V iew

s of the R us-

sian R evolution," W

orld P olitics, X

V III (A

pril 1966), 452ff.

'1 Ir 1 11

W IIY

M E

N llE

B E

stance an d

in disciplinary approach. T

h ere is considerable E

uro- p

ean historical scholarship on segm

ents of th e subject, notably th

e peasant rebellions of th

e tw elfth through n

in eteen

th centuries an

the great revolutions o fE

n g

lan d

, F rance, an

d R

ussia. A m

erican an d

u ro

p ean

scholars, m ost of th

em also historians, have in

recen t

years contributed a m o

d est case-study literature. A

m erican policy

scientists have w ritten a sm

all flood of treatises on the causes an d

prophylaxis of subversive w

arfare, m ost of w

hich seem to have h

n eith

er academ ic nor policy im

pact. T h

e lapses of attention are striking b

y com

parison. O f all the riotous m

obs that have clam oured

through th e streets of history, only the revolutionary crow

ds of eighteenth-

and nineteenth-century E u

ro p

e an d

th e ghetto rioters

of tw entieth-century A

m erica have attracted m

uch scholarly atten- tion.7 T

h ere are relatively few

case studies of political violence in the non-W

estern w orld, an

d few

er system atic com

parative studies or

attem pts

at em

pírica! theory.

E xperim

ental studies

dealing w

ith socia1-psycho1ogical m echanism

s o f collective violence can

b e counted on one hand. 8 A

m ong social scientists the historians

have b een

by far th e m

ost active; A m

erican política! scientists have until

n eg

lected th

e subject. 9 O f 2,828 articles that ap-

peared in the A

m erican P

olítica[ Science R eview

from its estab-

7 A useful survey o

f current know ledge of urban an

d rural tunnoil in eighteenth-

and nineteenth-century E u

ro p

e is G eorge R

udé, T he C

row d in H

istory: A Study

o f P

opular D isturbances in F

rance and E ngland, 1730-1848 (N

ew Y

ork: W iley,

1964). A representative survey of cu

rren t know

ledge of urban violence in m

odern societies is L

ouis H . M

asotti an d

D o

n R

. B ow

en, eds., R iots and R

ebellion: C ivil

V iolence in the U

rban C o

m m

u n

ity (B everly H

ills: S age, 1968).

8 T h

e studies,

using a

variety of experim

ental techrtiques,

include N

onnan P

olansky, H onald L

ippitt, am i F

ritz R edl, ''A

n Investigation of B ehavioral C

on- tagian in G

roups," H um

an R elations, ll1

(N o. 3, 1950), 319-348; G

. E . S

w anson,

"A P

relim inary L

aboratory S tudy of th

e A cting C

row d," A

m erican Sociological

R eview

, X V

III (O ctober 1953), 522-533; N

orm an C

. M eier, G

. H . M

ennenga, and H

. J. S toltz, "A

n E xperim

ental A pproach to th

e S tudy o

f M ob B

ehavior," jo u

m a

l o

f A bnorm

al and Social P sychology, X

X X

V I (O

ctober 1941), 506-524; K urt L

ew in,

R onald L

ippitt, an d

R alph K. W

hite, "P atterns of A

ggressive B ehavior in E

xperi- m

entally C reated S

ocial C lim

ates," jo u

m a

l o f Social P

sychology, X (M

ay 1939), 271-299;

an d

D avid S

chw artz, "P

olitical A lienation: A

P relim

inary E x

p erim

en t

on the P sychology of R

evolution's F irst S

tage," p ap

er read at th e A

nnual M eeting

of the A

m erican P

olitical S

cience A ssociation, 1967.

M any other experim

ental studies are relevant to collective violence; these deal explicitly w

ith social-psy- chological factors facilitating violence.

• T h

e renaissance of system atic theoretical an

d em

pirical w ork on poli ti cal vio-

len ce by poli ti cal scientists can b

e d ated

from th

e publication of three articles that appeared in

1962 and 1963: Jam es C

. D avies, "T

o w

ard a T

heory o f H

evolution," A

m erican

Sociological R

eview ,

X X

V II

(F ebruary

1962), 5-19;

H arry

E ckstein,

"Interna! W ar: T

h e P

roblem -

of A nticipation," in

Ithiel de S ola P

ool et al., Social R

esearch and N ational Security: A

R eport P

repared b y the R

esearch G roup in P

sy- chology

and the

Social Sciences

(W ashington,

D .C

.: S

m ithsonian

Institution, M

arch 5, 1963), p u

b lish

ed in revised f01m

as "O n

th e E

tiology of Interna! W ars,"

H istory and T

heory, IV (N

o. 2, 1965), 133-163; an d

R um

m el, "D

im ensions of C

on- flict B

ehavior."

E X

P L

A N

A T

IO N

S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

lish m

en t in 1906 through 1968, only tw

enty-nine ap p

ear from their

titles to b e concerned w

ith political disorder or violence. M ore-

over tw elve of th

e tw enty-nine w

ere concerned specifically w ith

revolution, an d

fifteen ap p

eared after 1961. 1

P olítica! scientists m

ight b e ex

p ected

to have a greater concern w

ith political violence th an

others. A uthoritative coercían in the

service of the state is a crucial co n

cep t in

política! theory an d

an issue of continuing d

isp u

teY S

orne h av

e identified th e distinctive

characteristic of the state as its m onopoly of physical coercion.

M ax W

eber, for exam ple, w

rote that violence is a "m ean

s specific" to th

e state an d

that "th e right of physical violence is assigned to

all o th

er associations or individuals only to th e extent perm

itted b

y th

e state; it is su p

p o

sed to b

e th e exclusive source of the 'right'

to use violence." 1 2

T hom

as H o

b b

es, dism ayed b

y the brutish an-

archy of m en

living outside the restraint of com m

onw ealths, con-

ceiv ed

the sovereign's control of coercían to b e tl1e foundation of

th e state an

d th

e social co n

d itio

n P

S chattschneider sees conflict,

w hich

subsum es

violence, as

the central

concept of political

science. 14

N ieberg

em phasizes

the positive

functions of non-

authoritative violence an d

its th reaten

ed use as an instrum

ent of social ch

an g

eY F

ro m

an y

o f th

ese perspectives the occurrence of collective, nonauthoritative violence appears to pose fw

o funda- m

ental questions for política! science: F rom

w hat sources and by

w h

at processes does it arise, an d

how does it affect the política!

an d

social order?

W h

at Is to B e E

xp lain

ed ?

T his study propases sorne general answ

ers to th ree basic ques-

tions about our occasional

disposition to

disrupt violently th e

ard er w

e otherw ise w

ork so h ard

to m aintain: W

hat are the psy- 10 B

y contrast, 111 a1ticles deal specifically w

ith G reat B

ritain, sorne 140 w ith

th e U

.S. C ongress, an

d about 250 w

ith constitutions or constitutional issues. T h

ese counts w

ere facilitated by th e use of the K

ey-W ord-in-C

ontext index o f article titles

in K

enneth Janda, ed., C um

ulative Index to the A m

erican P olitical Science R

e- view

: V olum

es 1-57: 1906-1963 (E vanston: N

orthw estern U

niversity P ress, 1964).

11 A useful analysis o

f alternative conceptions o f authoritative violence is E

. V .

W alter, "P

o w

er an d

V iolence," A

m erican P

olitical Science R eview

, L V

III (June 1964), 350-360. A

sürvey of th e origins, functions, an

d form

s o f legitim

ate and il- legitim

ate violence, w ithin an

d am

ong states, is C h

ap ter 8, "C

ivil C onflict and W

ar," A

lfred d e G

razia, P olitics and G

overnm ent, V

ol. 1: P olitical B

ehavior, rev. edn. (N

ew Y

ork: C ollier, 19q2, 1962), 265-301.

12 M ax W

eber, "P olitik als B

eruf," G esam

m elte P

olitische Schriften (T ubingen:

J. C . B

. M ohr, 1958), 494, translated in

E . V

. W alter, 359.

13 T hom

as H obbes, L

eviathan (O xford: B

asil B lackw

ell, 1946). 14 E

. E . S

chattschneider, "Intensity, V isibility, D

irection an d

S cope," A

m erican

P olítica! Science R

eview , L

I (D ecem

b er 1957), 933-942.

1 5

H . L

. N

ieburg, "T h

e T h

reat o f V

iolence an d

S ocial C

hange," A m

erican Po- lítica! Science R

eview , L

V I (D

ecem b

er 1962), 865-873, an d

P olítica! V

iolence: T he

B ehavioral P

rocess (N ew

Y ork: St. M

artin's P ress, 1969).

7 ,

I t r. g e e o n vi at tu h; m

pe se di: R

t Ft' e o se' " (P

r gra

t T

ar Int• R

J C

ro 271

r \' i i, 1:: t i l l " t h:. r E' ' t i ¡ 1

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

chological and social sources of th e potential for collective vio-

lence? W hat

determ ines

the extent to

w hich

that potential is

focused on the poli ti cal system ? A

nd w h

at societal conditions af- fect the m

agnitude an d

form , an

d h

en ce the consequences, of vio-

lence? T h

e study has four prim ary objects of analysis. T

w o are

intervening variables: th e potential for collective violence an

d th

e potential for political violence. P

ropositionally, potential for col- lective violence is a function of th

e extent an d

intensity of sh ared

discontents am

ong m em

bers of a society; the potential for political violence is a function of the d

eg ree to w

hich such discontents are b

lam ed

on the political system an

d its agents. T

h e rem

aining ob- jects of analysis are d

ep en

d en

t variables: the m agnitude o

f political violence an

d the form

s o f political violence, both of w

hich are dis- cussed below

. T

heories of revolution are usually concerned w ith specifying a

relationship b etw

een sorne set of preconditions an

d th

e occur- rence of revolution.

P olitical violence, how

ever, is a pervasive

phenom enon, as w

as suggested above: few contem

porary or his- torical societies have b

een free of it for long. It m

ay b e useful for

m icroanalysis to specify w

h eth

er política! violence is likely in a

given society a ta

particular point in tim

e. F o

r m acroanalysis, how

- ever, the m

ore interesting questions are th e determ

inants of the extent of violence an

d of th

e forros in w

hich it is m anifested. If

one's interest is the effects o f political violence on the political

system , the questions of its m

agnitude an d

kind are b o

th highly

relevant. A nd if o

n e is co

n cern

ed in

an ethical w ay w

ith political violence,

th en

alm

ost certainly one w ants to assess

its h u

m an

and m

aterial costs, an d

co n

seq u

en tly

th e determ

inants of its m agni-

tude. V arious m

easures of th e relative extent o

f política! violence have b

een used in recen

t com parative studies. S

orokin co m

b in

m easures of the proportion of a nation affected (social area), pro-

portian of population actively involved, duration, intensity, an d

severity of effects of violence in

assessing the m agnitude of interna!

disturbances. T illy an

d R

ule m ake use of m

an-days of participation. R

um m

el and T an

ter have u sed

counts of num bers o

f events. T h

e F

eierab en

d s have d

ev elo

p ed

a scaling procedure that takes ac- count of both n

u m

b er of events an

d a pr,iori judgm

ents about th e

severity of events of various types. 16 S orne researchers have u

sed

16 Sorokin, op. cit.; C harles T

illy and Jam es R

ule, M easuring P

olitical U pheaval

(Princeton: C enter of lnternational S

tudies, P rinceton U

niversity, R esearch M

ono- graph N

o. 19, 1965); R um

m el, "D

im ensions of C

onflict B ehavior .

. . "; R

aym ond

T anter, "D

im ensions of C

onflict B ehavior W

ithin N ations, 1955-60: T

urm oil and

Interna! W ar," P

eace R esearch Societies P

apers, III (1965), 159-164; and Ivo K. and R

osalind L .

F eierabend, "A

ggressive B

ehaviors W ithin

P olities, 1948-1962; A

ross N ational S

tudy," ]ournal o f C

onflict R esolutíon, X

(S eptem

ber 1966), 249- 271. 8

¡,·

E X

P L

A N

A T

IO N

S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

the grisly calculus of n u

m b

er of deaths resulting from v

io len

ceY

T h

e p ro

p o

sed relation b

etw een

p erceiv

ed deprivation an

d the

frustration concept in frustration-anger-aggression theory, to b

e dis- cussed in

ch ap

ter 2, provides a rationale for a m ore general defini-

tion of m agnitude of violence an

d a m

ore precise specification of w

hat it com prises. T

h e basic frustration-aggression proposition is

that the greater th e frustration, th

e greater th e quantity of aggres-

sion against th e source of frustration. T

his postulate provides the m

otivational base for an initial proposition about poli ti cal violence: the greater th

e intensity of deprivation, the greater th e m

agnitude of violence. (O

ther perceptural an d

m otivational factors are also

relevant to política! violence, b u

t m any of th

em can b

e su b

su m

by th e deprivation cóncept, as is suggested in ch

ap ter 2.) In

ten se

frustration can m otívate m

en eith

er to intense, short-term attacks

o rto

m ore prolonged, less severe attacks on th

eir frustrators. W hich

tactic is chosen is probably a function of anticipated gain, oppor- tunity,

an d

fear of retribution,

w h

ich

in política! violence are

situationally determ ined. H

en ce th

e severity of deprivation affects both th

e intensity of violence, i.e. in th

e extent of h u

m an

and phys- ical dam

age incurred, an d

its duration. M

oreover there are evi- dently individual d

ifferen ces-presum

ably norm ally d

istrib u

ted -

in th e intensity of frustration n

eed ed

to precipitate overt aggres- sion. E

xtension o f this principie to th

e deprivation-violence rela- tionship suggests th

at th e proportion o

f a population th at partici-

pates in violence ought to vary w

ith th e average intensity of per-

ceiv ed

deprivation.

M ild deprivation w

ill m

otívate few to vio-

lence, m oderate deprivation w

ill p u

sh m

ore across th e threshold,

very in ten

se deprivation is likely to galvanize large segm ents of a

political com m

unity into action. T

his arg

u m

en t suggests

th at m

agnitude of political

violence has th

ree com ponent variables that ought to b

e taken into account in

system atic analysis: th

e extent of participation w ithin the politi-

cal u n

it b ein

g stu

d ied

(scope), th e destructiveness of action (in-

tensity), an

th e

len g

o f tim

e violence

persists (duration).

S orokin's em

pírica! w ork takes all three aspects into account; so

does m ine. 18

T h

e intensity an d

scope of relative deprivation an d

m agnitude of

17 A m

ong them R

ichardson, especially chap. 2 and 4; R um

m el, "D

im ensions of

C onflict B

ehavior"; T anter; and B

roce M .

R ussett, "Inequality and Instability:

T he R

elation of L and T

enure to P olitics," W

orld P olitics, X

V I (A

pril 1964), 442- 454.

16 T ed

G urr w

ith C harles R

uttenberg, T he C

onditions o f C

ivil V iolence: F

irst Tests o

f a C ausal M

odel (P rinceton: C

enter of Intem ational S

tudies, P rinceton

U niversity, R

esearch M onogm

ph N o. 28, 1967); T

ed G urr, "A

C ausal M

odel of C

ivil Strife: A C

om parative A

nalysis U sing N

ew lndices," A

m erican P

olitical Sci- ence R

eview , L

X II (D

ecem ber 1968), ll04-1124.

fjj ::¡· " ¡, ii l' J

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

violence are

unidim ensional

variables. T

heoretically, an

d em

- pirically, one can conceive of degrees or quantities o

f each in any

polity. T h

e form s of violence, how

ever, are attributes that do not form

a sim ple dim

ension. A society m

ay experience riots b u

t not revolution, revolution b

u t n

o t coups d

' état, coups d ' état b

u t n

o t

riots. H ypotheses about form

s of violence as d ep

en d

en t variables

thus are

necessarily different from those about deprivation an

m agnitude of violence. T

h ey

are expressed in term

s of probabilities (the greater x, th

e m ore likely y) rather than strict concom

itance. T

h e question is h

o w

m any form

s of political violence ought to b e

accounted for in a

general theory. T h

e principie of parsim ony,

w hich should apply to d

ep en

d en

t as w ell as in

d ep

en d

en t variables,

suggests using a typology w ith a sm

all n u

m b

er of categories, events in each of w

hich are fairly num erous.

C onventional

taxonom ies,

o f w

hich there

are m

any, provide

little help. S orne; like that of L

assw ell an

d K

aplan, provide sim ple

typologies for revolutions b u

t n o

t for política! violence generally. 19 E

ckstein propases a eom posite typology com

prising unorganized, spontaneous violence (riots), intraelite conflicts (coups), tw

o varie- ties of revolution, an

d w

ars of in d

ep en

d en

ce. 20 P erhaps th

e m ost

com plex typology is R

u m

m el' s list of tw

enty-five types of dom es tic

conflict, the analysis o f w

h ich

provides an em pírica! solution to th

e problem

of a parsim onious typology. In

R um

m el's analysis, a

n d

in a

num ber of su

b seq

u en

t studies, data on th e incidence an

d character-

istics of various types of poli ti cal violence w ere collected an

d tabu-

lated by country an d

th e "co

u n

try scores" (num

ber of riots, assassi- nations, coups, m

utinies, guerrilla w ars, an

d so on, in

a given tim e

period) w ere factor analyzed. W

hatever th e typology em

ployed, the period of reference, or th

e set of countries, essentially the sam e

results w ere reported. A

strong turm oil dim

ension is characterized by largely spontaneous strife such as riots an

d dem

onstrations. It is quite distinct both statistically an

d substantively from

w hat can

b e called a revolutionary dim

ension, characterized b y

m ore or-

ganized an d

intense strife. T his revolutionary dim

ension has tw o

com ponents that appear in

sorne analyses as separate dim ensions:

interna[ w

ar, typically

in clu

d in

civil w

ar, guerrilla w

ar, an

sorne coups; an d

conspiracy, typically in clu

d in

g plots, m

utinies, an

d m

ost coups. 21

19 H arold L

assw ell and A

braham K

aplan, P ow

er and Society: A F

ram ew

ork for P

olitical lnquiry (N ew

H aven: Y

aie U niversity P

ress, 1950), 261-268. T h

e types are palace revolution, political revolution, an

d social revolution.

2 0

"O n

the E tiology of Interna! W

ars," 135-136. 21 R

um m

el's typology

appears in

"D im

ensions of C

onflict B ehavior," 25-26.

T w

o sum m

ary articles o n

the factor analyses are R udolph J. R

um m

el, "A F

ield

¡ ¡,

E X

P L

A N

A T

IO N

S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

T h

ese types are not absolutely distinct. T h

e analyses m en

tio n

on pp. 4-5 indicate that, a ta

m ore g

en erallev

el of analysis, política! violence is a relatively hom

ogenous uní verse. W ithin that u

n í verse,

how ever, sorne kinds of violence ·ten

d to occur together, an

d the

occurrence of sorne types tends to p reclu

d e th

e occurrence of other types. T

h e principal distinction b

etw een

turm oil and revolution

is th e degree of organization an

d focus of violence, a distinction

also m ade by E

ckstein in his com

posite typology. A m

ajor differ- en

ce b etw

een the interna! w

ar an d

conspiracy com ponents of the

revolutionary dim ension is

one of scale. G

eneral definitions of th

e three form s of political violence exam

ined in this analysis are

as follow s:

T urm

oil: R

elatively spontaneous, unorganized politi.cal vio- . lence

w ith

substantial

popular participation,

in- cluding

violent political

strikes, riots,

political clashes, an

d localized rebellions.

C onspiracy:

H ighly

organized política! violence w ith lim

ited participation, including organized political assassi- nations, sm

all-scale terrorism , sm

all-scale guerrilla w

ars, coups d'état, an d

m utinies.

Interna! w ar:

H ighly

organized political

violence w

ith w

ide- sp

read

popular participation,

d esig

n ed

over- throw

th e regiine or dissolve the state an

d accom

pa- n

ied by extensive violence, including large-scale

terrorism an

d guerrilla w

ars, civil w ars, an

d revo-

lutions.22

In sum

m ary, this study is an attem

pt to analyze, an d

develop testable general hypotheses about, th

ree aspects of political vio- lence: its sources, m

agnitude, an d

form s. T

h e processes b

y w

hich the potential for violence develops an

d th

e kinds of conditions an

d events that ch

an n

el its outcom e are exam

ined as p art of this

T heory of S

ocial A ction W

ith A pplication to C

onflict W ithin N

ations," Yearbook o

f the Society for G eneral System

s R esearch, X

(1965), 183-204, and T anter, "D

i- m

ensions of C onflict B

ehavior." 2

2 E

ckstein, in "O

n th

e E tiology of Interna! W

ars," reintroduced the term "in-

terna! w ar," b

u t defined it considerably m

ore broadly as "an y

resort to violence w

ithin a political order to change its constitution, rulers, or policies," 133. In or-

dinary language, how ever, th

e phrase connotes a degree of participation an d

or- ganization of conflict that is not characteristic o

f th e events 1 h

a ve separately cate- gorized u

n d

er turm oil an

d conspiracy. T

h e three categories differ from

th e cate-

gories w ith the sam

e labels in G urr, "A

C om

parative S tudy of C

ivil S trife," an

d G

u u

, "A

C ausal M

odel of C ivil S

trife," only in their exclusion of nonviolent strife an d

of violent conflict b

etw een

apolitical groups.

y r •.¡ 1 j 1 r t f' J M li ,:, i!i ll! i!+ )!' ¡,: J'r 1' l

.j 'j

W H

Y M

E N

R E

D E

analysis. T w

o tapies often exam ined in theories of revolution are

exam ined h

ere only in passing: the im

m ediate precipitants of vio-

lence, about w hich m

ost generalizations appear trivial; and th e

long-run outcom es of various

kinds of political violence, about

w hich there is

little em

pirical evidence or d etailed

theoretical speculation.

T o

w a rd

a n

ln te

g ra

te d

T h

e o

ry o

f P o

litical V io

len ce

T h

e basic m odel of the conditions leading to political violence

used in this study incorporates both psychological an

d societal

variables. T h

e initial stages of analysis are actor-oriented in th e

sense that m any of the hypotheses about the potential for collective

action are related to, an d

in sorne instan ces d ed

u ced

from , inform

a- tion about the dynam

ics of h u

m an

m otivation. T

h e approach is

not w holly or prim

arily psycholÓ gical, how

ever, an d

it w o

u ld

b e

a m isinterpretation o

f th e argum

ents an d

evidence p resen

ted h

ere to categorize it so. M

ost of the relationships an d

evidence exam ined

in su b

seq u

en t stages of analysis are those that are proposed or

observed to hold b etw

een societal conditions an

d political vio-

lence. T h

e psychological m aterials are used to h

elp provide causal

linkages b etw

een an

d am

ong societal variables an d

the d ep

en d

en t

variables specified above: th e potential for collective an

d political

violence; th e m

agnitude of political violence; an d

th e likelihood

that political violence w ill take th

e forro of turm oil, conspiracy, or

interna! w ar.

U se of psychological ev

id en

ce in this w

ay m akes

certain kinds of social

uniform ities

m ore

clearly apparent an d

com

prehensible, an d

contributes to the sim plification of theory.

A t the sam

e tim e th

e analysis of societal relationships is crucial for identifying the sources of sorne com

m on psychological properties

of violence-prone roen an d

for generalizing about the m any facets

of political violence that have no parallels in psychological dy- nam

ics. T h

e goal of this analysis, at b est only partly realized, w

as proposed b

y Inkeles in

th e context of a discussion of social struc-

ture an d

personality: "W

h at is

req u

ired ... is an integration or

coordination of tw

o basic sets

of data in

larger explanatory sch

em e-

not a reduction of eith er m

o de of analysis to th e allegedly

m ore fundam

ental m ode of th

e other." 23 T

h e outlines of th

e theory can now b

e sketched briefly. T h

e pri- m

ary causal seq u

en ce in political violence is first the d

ev elo

p m

en t

of discontent, second the

politicization of that discontent, an

23 A lex lnkeles, "P

ersonality and S ocial S

tructure," Sociology T oday (N

ew Y

ork: B

asic B ooks, 1959), 272, quoted in M

arvin. E . W

olfgang and F ranco F

erracuti, The Sub culture o

f V iolence: T

ow ards an Integrated Theory in C

rim inology (L

on- don: S

ocial S cience P

aperbacks, 1967), 8.

E X

P L

A N

A T

IO N

S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

finally its actualization in violent action against political objects

an d

actors. D iscontent arising from

th e perception of relative depri-

vation is th e basic, instigating condition for participants in

collec- tive violence. T

h e lin

k ed

concepts of discontent an d

deprivation com

prise m ost of th

e psychological states im plicit or explicit in

such theoretical notions about the causes of violence as frustration, alienation,

drive an

goal conflicts,

exigency, an

d strain

(dis- cu

ssed in

ch ap

ter 2). R

elative deprivation is defined as a p erceiv

ed discrepancy be-

tw een

m en

's value expectations an d

th eir value capabilities. V

alue expectations are the goods an

d conditions of life to w

hich p eo

p le

b eliev

e th

ey are

rightfully entitled. V

alue capabilities

are th

e goods an

d conditions th

ey think th

ey are capable of attaining or

m aintaining, given th

e social m eans available to them

. S ocietal

conditions that increase the average level or intensity of expecta- tions w

ithout increasing capabilities increase the intensity of dis- content. A

m ong the general conditions th

at have such effects are the value gains of o

th er groups an

d th

e prom ise of n

ew opportuni-

ties (chapter 4). S ocietal conditions th

at decrease m en

's average value position w

ithout decreasing th eir value expectations sim

ilarly increase deprivation, h

en ce the intensity of discontent. T

h e in-

flexibility of value stocks in a society, short-term

deterioration in a

group's conditions of life, an d

lim itations of its structural oppor-

tunities have such effects (chapter 5). D

eprivation-induced discontent

is a

general sp

u r

to action.

P sychological theory an

d group conflict theory b

o th

suggest th at

th e greater th

e intensity of discontent, the m ore likely is violence.

T h

e specificity of this im pulse to action is d

eterm in

ed b

y m

en's beliefs ab

o u

t the sources of deprivation, an d

about th e norm

ative an

d utilitarian justifiability of violent action directed at th

e agents responsible for it.

S ocietal variables th

at affect th e focusing of discontent on politi-

cal objects in clu

d e th

e extent of cultural an d

subcultural sanctions for overt aggression, th

e extent an d

degree of success of past poli ti- cal violence, th

e articulation an d

dissem ination of sym

bolic appeals justifying violence, th

e legitim acy of th

e political system , an

d the

kinds of responses it m akes an

d has m

ade to relative deprivation (chapters 6 and 7). T

h e b

elief that violence has utility in obtaining

scarce values can b

e an in d

ep en

d en

t source of political violence, b

u t w

ith in

political com m

unities it is

m ost likely to provide a

secondary, rationalizing, rather th an

prim ary, m

otivation. W ide-

spread discontent provides a

general ím petus to collective vio-

lence. H ow

ever, th e great m

ajority of acts of collective violence in recen

t decades have h ad

at least sorne political objects, an d

:,i ¡:: \:\ ¡.¡ '¡:': ¡, ¡;.; ¡,: i 1' i!'i ¡, !:

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

th e m

ore in ten

se those violent acts are, th e m

ore likely th ey

are to b

e focused prim arily or exclusively on th

e political system . In-

ten se

discontent is

q u

ite likely to

b e

politicized; th

e prim ary

effect of norm ative an

d utilitarian attitudes tow

ard violence is to focus th

at potential. T

h e m

agnitude of political violence in a system

, an d

th e form

s it

takes, are

partly d

eten n

in ed

the scope

an d

intensity of politicized discontent. P

oliticized discontent is a necessary con- dition for th

e resort to violence in politics. B ut h

o w

ev er in

ten se

an d

focused th e ím

petus to violence is, its actualization is strongly influenced b

y the

patterns of coercive control an

d institutional

su p

p m

t in the politicál com

m unity. P

olitical violence is of greatest m

agnitude, an d

m ost likely to take th

e form of interna! w

ar, if regim

es an d

those w lw

oppose tl)em exercise approxim

ately eq u

al degrees of coercive control, an

d co

m m

an d

sim ilar an

d relatively

high degrees of institutional su p

p o

rt in th

e society. T h

e coercive capacities of a re gim

e '1.nd th e uses to w

hich th ey

are p u

t are crucial variables, affecting th

e form s an

d extent of political violence in

b o

th e short an

d long run. T

h ere is m

u ch

ev id

en ce, sorne of it sum

m ar-

ized in

chapters 8 an d

10, that sorne patterns of re gim e coercive con-

trol increase rather th an

e intensity of discontent, an d

can facilitate th

e transform ation of turm

oil into full-scale revolution- ary m

ovem ents. D

issidents, b y

contrast, u se w

hatever degree of co- ercí ve capacities th

ey acquire principally for group defense an

d for

assaults on th e re gim

e. T h

e degree of institutional su p

p o

rt for dis- sidents an

d for regim

es is a function of th e relative proportions

of a nation's

population th eir organizations m

obilize, th e com

- plexity an

d cohesiveness o

f those organizations, th eir resources,

an d

th e extent to w

h ich

th ey

provide regularized procedures for value

attainm ent,

conflict resolution,

an d

an n

elin g

hostility

(chapter 9). T h

e grow th o

f d issid

en t organization m

ay in th

e short ru

n facilitate política! violence, b

u t it also is likely to provide th

e d

isco n

ten ted

w ith

m an

y of th

e m eans to alleviate deprivation in

the long run, thus m

inim izing violence.

T h

e p reced

in g

th ree paragraphs are an outline of th

e fram ew

ork in

w h

ich the hypotheses an

d definitions of this study are devel-

o p

ed , a

n d

a sum

m ary of sorne of its generalizations. T

h e hypotheses

an d

th eir interrelationships are sum

m arized m

ore fully an d

sys- tem

atically in ch

ap ter 10. T

h e A

ppendix lists all hypotheses de- veloped, categorized according to th

eir d ep

en d

en t variables, an

the chapters in w

h ich

th ey

are proposed. T

h e th

ree stages in th

e process o f political v

io len

ce-th o

se in

w h

ich discontent is generated, politicized, an

d actualized in

políti- ca! v

io len

ce-are each d ep

en d

en t on the p

reced in

g one, as th

e 1

(, ..

E X

P L

A N

A T

IO N

S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

outline indicates.

lt is likely b

u t n

o t necessarily the case that

th ere is a tem

poral relationship am ong the three stages, w

hereby a sharp increase in

th e intensity of discontent precedes the articula-

tion of doctrines th at justify politically violent action, w

ith shifts in

th e balances of coercive control an

d institutional adherence oc-

curing subsequerttly. T h

e conditions can b e sim

ultaneously opera- tive, how

ever, as th e outbreak of th

e V en

d ée counterrevolution in

1793 dem

onstrates: im

plem entation

of procedures

for m

ilitary conscription intensified th

e discontent of w orkers an

d peasants

already sharply hostile to th e bourgeoisie an

d the governm

ent it ruled. M

ass action against th e bourgeoisie b

eg an

in a m atter of

days; the social context for dissident action w as provided in

part by preexisting com

m unal an

d political organization, action that w

as facilitated by the co

n cu

rren t w

eakness of governm ent forces and

institutions in the region. 2

4 T

h e point is that m

any of the attitudes an

d societal conditions that facilitate political violence m

ay be p

resen t an

d relatively unchanging in

a society over a long period; th

ey becom

e relevant to or operative in th

e genesis of violence only w

h en

relative deprivation increases in scope an

d intensity.

Intent;e politicized discontent also can b

e w id

esp read

and per- sistent over a long p

erio d

w ithout overt m

anifestation because a regim

e m

onopolizes coercive

control an

institutional support. A

w eakening of regim

e control or th e d

ev elo

p m

en t of dissident

organization in such situations is highly likely to lead

to m assive

violence, as it d id

in H

ungary in 1956 an

d C

h in

a in 1966-68, and

as is likely at sorne future date in S

outh A frica.

T h

e concepts, hypotheses, an d

m odels of causes an

d processes

d ev

elo p

ed in

th e follow

ing chapters are not in ten

d ed

as ends in them

selves. lntellectually pleasing filters through w hich to view

d categorize the p

h en

o m

en a of a disorderly w

orld are not know l-

edge. S ystem

atic. know ledge requires us to propose an

d test and

reform ulate an

statem ents about h

o w

an d

w hy things hap-

pen. W e know

enough, an d

know it w

ell enough, only w h

en w

e can say w

ith sorne certitude not ju

st w hy things h

ap p

en ed

yesterday, b

u t how

o u

r actions today w ill affect w

h at happens tom

orrow ,

som ething w

e can alw ays h

o p

e to know better, though never per-

fectly. T his analysis m

ay dem onstrate that too little is know

n about the violence m

en do one another, an

d th

at it is know n too w

eakly an

d im

precisely. lt is d esig

n ed

to facilitate th e processes by w

hich that know

ledge can b e increased.

24 C harles

T illy,

The V

endée (C

am bridge:

H arvard

U niversity

Press, 1964),

passim .

r o o p lt li al ir 01

p: is el 01 0

(

ti« re is fo

an th " Th, C

n P

et of t Sh€

1 f !\_.

), 5

W H

Y M

E N

R E

D E

T h

e N atu

re o f S

o cial T

h e o

(1 n this section 1 w

ish to com m

ent on so m e criteria for social

theory and their application to political violence. T hese criteria

are not essential for understanding the substance o f the book, b

u t

they help explain its approach to analysis and form o

f presentation. R

eaders not concerned w ith

these questions m ay turn directly to

chapter 2.) M

any descriptive generalizations an d

propositions can b e m

ade about the origins, processes, an

d effects of political violence gen-

erally, an d

of its severa} form s. V

ariables com m

only exam ined in-

• elude th

e kinds of societal an d

political structures m ost susceptible

to violence, revolutionary ideologies, th e developm

ental seq u

en ce

of revolutionary m ovem

ents, th e effects of force on the outcom

e of violence, the nature of revolutionary organization, an

d m

u ch

else. S

orne less variables for analysis are the nonideological

m otivations of revolutionaries, th

e effects of institutional patterns on the form

s an d

objects o f violence, th

e efficacy of different kinds of governm

ental response, an d

the long-range consequences of

political violence. T

w o paradigm

atic approaches to "th eo

ry " about political vio-

lence can b e identified. O

n e is to analyze a related p

h en

o m

en o

n ,

like revolutionary organization or ideology, in order to generalize about its origins, characteristics, or effects. A

n in terest in

explain- ing the occurrence or outcom

e of political violence is often im plicit

or explicit in such an analysis, b

u t typically th

e analysis does not p

reten d

to b e com

plete; the relevance of other variables ordinarily is recognized. T

h e second is to choose a particular violent ev

en t or

class of events as an object of explanation an d

to specify sorne m ore

or less exhaustive set of conditions or variables that determ ines the

occurrence, extent, or outcom e of th

e events. T heories of revolu-

tion, like those of E d

w ard

s, B rinton, P

ettee, an d

T im

asheff, are representative of this second approach. 25 A

variant of this approach is to select a com

m on, quantifiable property of a variety of events

for analysis an d

explanation (see pp. 8-9). "T

h eo

ry " is a term

loosely u sed

in the social sciences generally

an d

in the study of political violence specifically. T h

e k in

d o

f theory· aim

ed at in this study is an interrelated set of general, falsi-

20 T h

e three best-know n A

m erican theories of revolution are L

yford P. E dw

ards, The N

atural H istory o

f R evolutions (C

hicago: U niversitY

. o f C

hicago P ress, 1927);

C rane B

rinton, T he A

natom y o

f R evolution (N

ew Y

ork: N orton, 1938); an

d G

eorge P

ettee, The P rocess o

f R evolution (N

ew Y

ork: H arper, 1938). A

m ore recen

t theory of this type is proposed by N

icholas S. T im

asheff, W ar and R

evolution (N ew

Y ork:

S h

eed an

d W

ard, 1965).

1 6

E X

P L

A N

A T

IO N

S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

fiable hypotheses that specify causal or concom itant relationships

b etw

een

in d

ep en

d en

t an

d d

ep en

d en

t variables.

T h

e nature of such relationships

can b e argued inductively from

observations ab

o u

t th e relevant p

h en

o m

en a at various levels of analysis, or de-

d u

ced from

th er

statem ents

com prising th

e theory, or both. 26

S uch "explanatory" theory is distinct from

w h

at E ckstein calls

pretheoretical exercises, su ch

as th e form

ulation of classificatory schem

es and conceptual fram ew

orks, w hich are som

etim es called

theory. 27 N or are descriptive generalizations about relationships

am ong variables

theory in the sense in

ten d

ed here, unless th

e sources an

d nature of such relationships are stated explicitly an

th e generalizations them

selves interrelated. M

ost hypotheses d ev

elo p

ed in

this study are d eriv

ed from

th e

juxtaposition an

generalization of

relationships observed

studies of political violence an d

of th e individual behaviors m

ani- fest in

it. T h

e approach reflects an assum ption that social science

theory ought to b u

ild on w

hat is already know n about th

e subject b

ein g

theorized about, an d

that it ought to b e consistent w

ith, or at least not directly contradictory to, w

hat is m ore generally know

n about th

e nature an d

processes of individual an d

aggregate hum an

behavior. T his is not to say that hypotheses m

u st b

e consistent w ith

hat L evy calls "going com

m on sen

se," b u

t rather that it is non- sensical an

d inefficient to invest

effort in testing hypoth-

eses th at contradict w

hat is precisely know n, unless there are com

- p

ellin g

logical or em pirical grounds for questioning w

hat is as- su

m ed

to b e "precisely know

n." T

h e central scientific criterion for theory is that it b

e subject to em

pirical assessm ent. F

o u

r attributes of theory th at facilitate

its assessm ent are its falsifiability, definitional clarity, identifica-

tion of relevant variables at various levels of analysis, an

d ap-

plicability to a universe of events for analysis. T

h e first tw

o are

necessary conditions

for assessm

ent, th

e others

desirable. A

fundam ental lim

itation of m ost older theories and conceptions

26 F o

r a critique o f w

hat passes for theory in th

e social sciences an d

a proposed set o

f criteria for good theory, see M arion J. L

evy, Jr., "'D o

es It M atter if H

e's N

aked?' B aw

led th e C

hild," in K

laus K norr and Jam

es R osenau, eds., C

ontending A

pproaches to

Intem ational

P olitics

(P rinceton:

P rinceton

U niversity

P ress,

1969). F o

r a statem ent o

f criteria for theory in /a field related

to th e subject o

f this book, a

n d

a survey o

f extant "theory," see W olfgang an

d F

erracuti, chap. 2. 27 H

arry E

ckstein, "Introduction:

T ow

ard th

e T

heoretical S

tudy o

f Interna! W

ar," Interna! W ar: P

roblem s and A

pproaches (N ew

Y ork: T

h e F

ree P ress, 1964),

7-29, classifies pretheoretical operations as delim itation (statem

ent of th e bounda-

ries of the subject); classification an d

analysis (m eaning by "analysis" the dissec-

tion o f a subject into its com

ponents); and problem ation (the form

ulation o f specific

problem s for theory construction).

M ost of these "operations" w

ith respect to political violence are attem

pted in this chapter.

··t ti ,¡ l¡ Ji '¡ !·; li 11 li,

W H

Y M

E N

R E

U E

of revolution is the

difficulty of deriving falsifiable hypotheses

from them

. 28 F

ew if any w

ere form ulated w

ith reference to ap- plicable em

pirical m ethods. T

h e fact that very few

case or com para-

ti ve studies m ake use of th

em is further evidence of th

eir lim ited

usefulness ev en

for taxonom ic or conceptual purposes. T

w o

gen- eral conventions regarding falsifiability are u

sed in

social science. O

ne is to state that an in d

ep en

d en

t (causal) variable is a necessary and/or sufficient condition for the d

ep en

d en

t variable one w ants

to explain. T his usually m

eans that both variables are defined in

dichotom ous

te rm

s- "d

iseq u

ilib riu

m " does

or does n o

t o c c u

r- ev

en if one or both are continuous variables, an

d typically leads

to propositions that art trivial or falsifiable b y

a single deviant case. T

h e second is to rely on tests of statistical significance of relation-

ships b

etw een

variables,

w hich

has led

to th e proliferation of

w eakly su

p p

o rted

b u

t not-quite-fálsified hypotheses w hich have

yet to b e integrated into a m

ore general an d

parsim onious theory.

A third convention is u

sed in this study: a m

ínim um

strength of relationship

is postu1ated

for each

hypothesis in

correlational

term s; if the relationship found in

an em pirical test is w

eaker than stipulated, an

d no serious sam

ple or instrum ent error is likely,

the hypothesis

is rejected.

F o

r exam ple,

one basic hypothesis

is that the greater the intensity an d

scope of relative deprivation in a population, the greater th

e potential for collective violence. T

h e proposed relationship is a strong one: if interval-order m

eas- u

rem en

t of b o

th variables for a substantial n

u m

b er of cases gives

a product-m om

ent correlation coefficient less than .45 (less than 20 p

ercen t of the variance explained), th

e hypothesis is rejected. 29

28 F or exam

ple, E dw

ards, B rinton, and P

ettee. A sam

pling of th e older theoreti-

cal speculation about revolution and political violence, w hich seldom

finds its w

ay even into the footnotes of current w ritings, w

ould include the w ork of G

us- tave L

e B on, especially T

he P sychology o

f R evolutíon, trans. B

ernard M iaU

(L on-

don: U nw

in, 1913); B rooks A

dam , T

he T heory o

f Social R evolutions (N

ew Y

ork: M

acm illan, 1913); E

verett D ean

M artin, T

he B ehavíor o

f C row

ds: A P

sychologícal Study

(N ew

Y ork:

H arper,

1920), chap.

7, "T

h e

P sychology of R

evolutionary C

row ds"; C

harles A .

E llw

ood, T he P

sychology o f H

um an Society: A

n Introduc-

tíon to Socíologícal T heory (N

ew Y

ork: A ppleton, 1925), chap. 8, "C

hanges W ithin

the G roup: A

bnorm al"; R

obert H unter, R

evolution: W hy, H

ow , W

hen? (N ew

Y ork:

H arper, 1940); and M

ark A .

M ay, A

Social P

sychology o f W

ar and P eace (N

H aven:

Y ale

U niversity P

ress, 1943), chap. 7, "A ggressive S

ocial M ovem

ents." T

h e flavor of the literature to 1925 can b

e sam pled in D

ale Y oder, "C

u rren

t D efi-

nitions of R evolution," A

m erican ]ournal o

f Sociology, X

X X

II (N ovem

ber 1926), 433-441. S

orne w ritings of this period are curious indeed, for exam

ple, S idney A

. R

eeve, T he N

atural L aw

s o f Social C

onvulsíons (N ew

Y ork: D

utton, 1933). 29 T

h e

strength of relationship is req u

ired of m

ultiple regression coefficients (R

) for studies in w hich m

ultiple m e asures of a particular in

d ep

en d

en t variable are

used. I have reported evidence to the effect that the .45 threshold is by no m eans

too stringent for the hypotheses m entioned in G

urr, ''A C

ausal M odel of C

ivil S

trife." T h

ree com posite m

easures of deprivation related to m agnitude of civil

strife for 114 polities give an R of .60, despite the presence of considerable m

eas- urem

ent error.

1 8

E X

P L

A N

A T

IO N

S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

O th

er hypotheses

specify relationships

of m

oderate strength,

requiring a m

ínim um

r of .30

if th ey

are not to b

e discarded. H

ypotheses about in d

ep en

d en

t variables that do not m eet these

criteria are not necessarily false in th

e conventional sense, b u

t they denote relationships that are too w

eak to con tribute to parsim onious

theory. 30 In

d ep

en d

en t an

d d

ep en

d en

t variables m

ust b e defined w

ith sufficient precision so th

at a researcher can determ ine w

hat par- ticular conditions or set of events constitute "X

" for purposes of em

pirical assessm ent. T

h e definitional inadequacy of m

any the- ories, n

ew an

d old, contributes to the difficulty of assessing them

. F

o r exam

ple, a great m any conditions have b

een said to "cau

se" or to constitute a basic potential for collective violence, am

orig th

em general properties of sociopolitical system

s lab eled

"cram p,"

"d iseq

u ilib

riu m

," an

"strain"; m

otivational characteristics

of violent m

en su

ch as "frustration" an

d "discontent"; an

d particu-

lar institutional patterns su ch

as repressive governm ent an

d inade-

quate circulation of, or divisions w ithin·: an elite. 31 A

difficulty of explanations citing such general properties is that th

e conditions as

defined, if in d

eed th

ey are defined, can

usually b e found in

m ost societies an

d am

ong m ost m

en, w h

eth er or not revolutionary;

an d

usually th ey

are not form ulated precisely en

o u

g h

to p erm

it one to assess th

e effects of th eir various elem

ents an d

degrees. T

h e em

pirical referents of sorne concepts are m ore easily isolated

than those of others. T

h e co

n cep

t "participation in clandestine

organization" is m ore readily m

ade operational than "revolution- ary m

obilization," an d

revolutionary m obilization is a m

ore m al-

leab le concept th

an "p

o w

er deflation." T his is not to argue that

m ore general concepts b

e avoided, b u

t that the m ore general they

are th e m

ore necessary it is to define th em

fully an d

to catalog th eir

m anifestations so that th

ey can b

e evaluated em pirically.

It is desirable that theoretical statem ents b

e testable at various levels of generalization. F

eld m

an , for exam

ple, attributes revolu- tionary potential to the increasing salience o

f goal conflicts b etw

een

th e increasingly nurnerous subsystem

s that are said to result from

30 T h

ese tw o criteria im

ply an absolute m axim

um of five

strong variables or eleven m

oderately strong variables for any theoretical system . H

ypotheses that ·are not supported at the .30 leve! b

u t that nonetheless m

eet statistical tests of significance

should lead to postulation of m

ore general hypotheses that m

ight account for a set of such w

eak relationships. 31 S

ee P ettee, passim

; C halm

ers Johnson, R evolutionary C

hange (B oston: L

ittle, B

row n, 1966), especially chap. 4; N

eil J. S m

elser, T heory o

f C ollective B

ehavíor (N

ew Y

ork: T h

e F ree P

ress, 1963), passim ; D

avies, passim ; and R

onald C . R

idker, "D

iscontent and E conorhic G

row th," E

conom ic D

evelopm ent and C

ultural C hange,

X I (O

ctober 1962), 1-15. A categorization of specific and general causal factors cited

in th e literature is given in E

ckstein, "O n

the E tiology of Interna! W

ars," 143- 144.

19 ,.

' l . W

H Y

M E

N R

E B

E L

structural differentiation in a society. 32 Id eally

it should b e pos-

sible to observe m anifestations of such a process at b

o th

th e m

acro- level of an en

tire social system , for exam

ple eighteenth-century F

ran ce, and at th

e level of th e com

m unity an

d am

ong sm all, face-

to-face groups. 33 S m

all-group p h

en o

m en

a are not likely to resem b

le sim

ply a scaled-dow n m

odel of m acrophenom

ena, b u

t it should b

e possible to identify th e sm

all-group interactions an d

individual behaviors

that are com prised b

y m

acroevents. If this translata-

bility cannot b e ach

iev ed

directly, th en

at least the m acrophe-

nom ena postulated in

theory sh o

u ld

b e com

patible w ith w

hat is know

n about m icrophenom

ena. T

his is not a reductionist argu- m

en t that analysis of social system

s or collective behavior can or should be red

u ced

to analysis of com ponent individual behaviors.

T h

e point is that analysis on one level can an d

should inform th

e other,

an d

that hypotheses

w hose relationships

are m anifested

at, and subject to exam ination at, different levels of analysis are

usually m ore interesting an

d fruitful

th an

those w hich refer to

one level o f analysis only. 34

T h

e fourth attribute o f theory that facilitates its assessm

ent con- cerns th

e types an d

num bers of cases or settings in

w hich th

e pro- posed relationships can b

e exam ined. T

h e preference is for theory

that can b

e subject to test both in case studies an

d in

large-sam ple

com parative

studies using statistical m ethods.

C ase studies

are useful for elucidating the fine structure o

f revolutionary events and for providing a sen

se of understanding of h o

w general vari-

ables act an d

interact. T h

ey also can b

e u sed

to test theoretical statem

ents expressed in dichotom

ous term s: o

n e can define "ac-

celerators of dysfunction"

an d

"revolution" in d

ep en

d en

tly an

in sufficiently rigorous fashion that a single case stu

d y

m ay b

e suf- ficent to falsify the proposition that acceb

rato rs o

f dysfunction are a

necessary precondition of revolution. 35 B ut m

any variables of interest to social theory can b

e dichotom ized only at great loss o

f inform

ation, and scholars undertaking case studies often find it difficult

to distinguish

b etw

een

general relationships

and th

e 32 A

rnold F eldm

an, "V iolence and V

olatility: T

h e L

ikelihood of R evolution,"

in Internal W ar, 111-129.

33 S idney Y

erba, Sm all G

roups and P olitical B

ehavior: A Study o

f L eadership

(P rinceton: P

rinceton U niversity P

ress, 1961), dem onstrates the usefulness of re-

lating concepts and flndings at one leve! of analysis to those at another. T illy's

case study of an interna! w ar, T

he V endée, show

s how analysis can proceed from

acrolevei concepts

such as

urbanization and social change to the individual

leve!, and back again. 34 O

n the relative m erits of using dilferent levels of analysis in social inquiry

see D avid S

inger, "T h

e L eve! of A

nalysis P roblem

in International R elations,"

W orld P

olitics, X IV

(O ctober 1961), 77-92.

•• T his proposition is adapted from

Johnson, op. cit.

2 0

1 ¡ 1

E X

PL A

N A

T IO

N S O

F P

O L

IT IC

A L

V IO

L E

N C

u n

iq u

e historical

an d

cultural circum stances of each case.

H y-

potheses that

specify system

atic relations

am ong

continuous variables, or b

etw een

a continuous an d

a dichotom ous variable,

are subject to scientific assessm ent only if substantial num

bers of cases

are exam

ined. T

his provides

further justification for the

choice of political violence rather than revolution as the subject of this study: th

e form er is far m

ore com m

on than the latter. In

this

study hypothetical

relationships are

form ally

stated and given alphanum

eric descriptors. T h

e first term in

each hypoth- esis is its d

ep en

d en

t variable. D efinitions ordinarily are proposed

in th e paragraphs im

m ediately follow

ing th e first appearance of

a theoreticai term in

a hypothesis. U n

d erlin

in g

of a term in

this context indicates that th

e sen ten

ce in w hich it appears is a form

al definition. S

ynonym s are u

sed for severa! of the frequently cited

theoretical concepts to avoid th

e m in

d -d

ead en

in g

effects of repe- tition. "R

elative deprivation," defined as a p erceiv

ed discrepancy

b etw

een m

en 's value expectations an

d value capabilities, is rep-

resen ted

by its initials, R D

, an d

th e synonym

s deprivation, dis- crepancy, and, loosely, frustration. "D

isco n

ten t," the psychologi-

cal state said to b e cau

sed by R

D , has as its synonym

s anger, rage, an

d dissatisfaction. S

ynonym s for "v

alu e expectations" are w

ants, aspirations, an

d expectations. "V

alues" are the goods an d

condi- tions o

f life w hich m

en seek; th

e phrase "goods an d

conditions of life" is

u sed

synonym ously w

ith values. "V alue opportunities,"

th e courses of action p

eo p

le have available to th em

for attaining or m

aintaining th eir d

esired values, are m

ore sim ply referred to as

"m ean

s." T h

ese synonym s are u

sed only w

h en

there is no am -

biguity about th eir referent; th

e defined term

s are u sed

in the d

ev elo

p m

en t of th

e basic theoretical argum ents.

2 . R

ela tiv

e D ep

riv a

tio n

a n

d th

e Im

p etu

s to V

io len

ce Our desires an

d pleasures

spring from

society; w

e m easure them

, therefore, b y

society

an d

not

b y

e objects

w hich

serve for th eir satisfaction. B

ecause they are of a social nature, they are of a rela- tive nature.

K arl M

arx an d

F riedrich E

ngels, W

age L abor and C

apital

B E

N E

A T

H th

e com plexity of h

u m

an m

otivation neurophysiologists have identified

great "ap p

etitiv e system

s" th at provide th

e m

otivating feelings against everything that h

ap p

en s to us

is m easu

red an

d judged. S

tim ulation of o

n e of these system

s pro- vides our feelings

of elation, satisfaction, an d

love. S tim

ulation of th

e other leads to sensations of anxiety, terror, depression, an d

rage. T

h ese feelings color o

u r perceptions of th

e w orld an

d ener-

gize our actions. L earning is b

ased on th

ese appetitive system s,.

first directly, th en

indirectly: w e learn to do an

d to seek

o u

t those things that b

rin g

satisfaction, an d

to avoid those that have noxious effects. 1

M eri.'s

circum stances

change, how

ever, an

w hat th

have learn

ed does not alw

ays prove suitable for deriving satisfactions from

an g

circum stances.

"W e

b eco

m e frustrated,"

C antril

w rites, "w

h en

w e sen

se a conflict b etw

een th

e significances w e

bring to a situation an d

w hich have w

orked in th

e past b u

t seem to

have no correspondence . . . to th

e em erging situation w

e face. •

• : · 2 T

his conflict or tension is fundam entally unpleasant: to b

e avoided or overcom

e if possible; to b e released in

expressive, "nonrealistic" w

ays if not. lt is th e fundam

ental source of b o

innovation and destruction in h

u m

an affairs. W

hy inriovative be- havior should occur in

response to tension is clear enough: th e

socialization process teaches

m en

to learn to avoid u n

p leasan

t stim

uli, and only severe n ew

conflicts are likely to paralyze the adaptive capacities m

en acquire in

that process. D estructive be-

havior m ay

b e

explained by reference

to another fundam

ental property of the h

u m

an organism

: if m en

are exposed to noxious

1 A b

rief introduction to the neurophysiological literature, an d

an interpretation of its im

plications for m otivation generally, are provided by H

adley C antril, .. Sentía,

ergo sum : 'M

otivation' R econsidered," ]ournal o

f P sychology, L

X V

(January 1967), 91-107. T

h e appetitive system

s w ere located by neurophysiologists in

th e m

id- 1950s an

d have b

een identified an

d studied in both m

an and other m

am m

als. 2 C

antril, p. 99.

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

stim uli that th

ey cannot avoid or overcom

e, they have an innate disposition

to out at th

eir sources. S

triking out m ay or

m ay n

o t reduce the frustration, b

u t it seem

s to b e an inherently

satisfying response to th e tension b

u ilt u

p through frustration.

T h

e desire to release tension is not th e only source of aggression,

how ever.

Innovative responses

to tensions m

ay them selves in-

elude th e resort to violence. M

ost im portant, th

e choice of tactical or "realistic" violence as an innovative response to tension is rein- forced by the innate disposition to aggression created

by the ten- sion.

D istinctions

b etw

een

"realistic" an

"nonrealistic" con-

flict or aggression thus m ay b

e analytically useful, b u

t the physio- logical an

d psychological ev

id en

ce suggests that elem ents of t#

e latter are alm

ost alw ays present. 4 It is likely to b

e absent only am

ong those w ho are coerced into participation in collective con-

flict. T

h ese principies operate in a w

ide range of individual behavior, including th

e actions of those in rebellion against th

eir political com

m unity. W

e n

eed concepts an

d hypotheses b

etter su ited

to . analyzing th

e social an d

psychological transactions th at provide

the ím petus to political violence am

ong m em

bers of a collectivity. "R

elative deprivation" (R D

) is th

e term u

sed in

the p reced

in g

chapter to denote the tension that develops from

a discrepancy b

etw een

the "o u

g h

t" an d

th e "is" of collective value satisfaction,

and that disposes m en

to violence. T h

e term 's definition is dis-

tinct from its conventional sociological usage, b

u t not so difterent

as to w arrant using a neo!ogism

like "cram p

" or "exigency." T his

chapter exam ines th

e R D

concept an d

its subordinate concepts: values, value classes, value expectations, value capabilities, an

value opportunities. T h

e frustration-aggression relationship pro- vides

th e

psychological dynam

ic for the proposed relationship

b etw

een intensity of deprivation an

d the potential for collective

violence; consequently it is exam ined in

sorne detail. O th

er con- ceptual

interpretations of th

e ím petus to political violence are

3 T h

e drive properties of frustration-induced aggression are exam ined an

d docu-

m ented by N

orm an R

. F . M

aier, F rustration: T

he S tu

d y o

f B ehavior W

ithout a G oal

(N ew

Y ork: M

cG raw

-H ill, 1949), passim

, and L eonard B

erkow itz, .. T

h e C

oncept of A

ggressive D rive: S

orne A dditional C

onsiderations," in B

erkow itz, ed.,A

dvances in E

xperim ental

P sychology, V

ol. u

(N ew

Y ork:

A cadem

ic P ress, 1965), 307-322,

am ong others. L

ike th e appetitive system

s, it appears to b e characteristic of m

an and of higher-order anim

als general! y. 4 C

onsiderable significance has b een

attached to the distinction b etw

een realistic

and nonrealistic conH ict b

y L

ew is C

oser, T he F

unctions o f Social C

onfiict (N ew

ork: T h

e F ree P

ress, 1956), 4 8

-5 5

an d

passim . T

h e distinction is com

m only m

ade in conH

ict theory, as pointed o u

t by R aym

ond W . M

ack an d

R ichard C

. S nyder,

..T he A

nalysis of S ocial C

onH ict: T

ow ard an O

verview an

d S

ynthesis," ]ournal o f

¡;. C

onfiict R esolution, 1 (June 1957), 221-248.

( ! 23

fi, j

!!!'

' ' ) (,e W

H Y

M E

N R

E B

E L

related to th

e relative deprivation m

odel, including notions of dissonance,

anom ie,

an d

social

conflict. F

inally th ree

patterns of disequilibrium

b etw

een value expectations an

d value capabili-

ties are proposed to facilitate dynam ic analysis.

R elativ

e D ep

riv atio

n D

efin ed

H ypothesis

V .l:

T h

e potential

for collective

violence varíes

strongly w ith" th

e intensity an d

scope of relative deprivation am

ong m em

bers of a collectivity.

R elative deprivation

(R D

) is defined as

actors' p ercep

tio n

o f

discrepancy b etw

een th

eir value expectations an d

th eir value capa-

bilitjes. V alue expectations are th

e goods and conditions of life to w

hich p eo

p le b

eliev e th

ey are rightfully entitled. V

alue capa- bilities are th

e goods an d

conditions th ey

think th ey

are capable of getting an

d keeping. (T

hese concepts are m ore precise! y defined

below .) T

h e em

phasis o f th

e hypothesis is on th e perception o

f deprivation;

m ay b

e subjectively d ep

riv ed

w ith reference

to th

eir expectations ev

en though an objective observer m

ight not ju

d g

e th em

to b e in

w ant. S

im ilarly, th

e existence o f w

h at

the observer ju d

g es to b

e abject poverty or "absolute deprivation" is not necessarily th

o u

g h

t to b e unjust or irrem

ediable by those w

ho experience it. A s R

uncim an puts it, "if p

eo p

le h a ve no reason

to expect or h o

p e for m

ore than th ey

can achieve, th ey

w ill b

e less discontented w

ith w

h at th

ey have, or ·even grateful sim

ply to b e

able to hold on to it." 5 T h

e concept of R D

w as first u

sed system

ati- cally in

th e 1940s b

y th

e authors of T he A

m erican Soldier to denote

th e feelings of an

individual w ho lacks sorne status or conditions

that h e thinks h

e sh o

u ld

have, his standards of w h

at h e sh

o u

have generally b ein

g d

eterm in

ed by reference to w

hat sorne o th

er person or groups has. 6 T

h e co

n cep

t is w idely u

sed in

sociological research, w

h ere it is usually assu

m ed

for operational purposes th at

value are set b

y reference to sorne group or status

w hich an individual does or is thought to identify_7 It is m

ore gen-

5 W . G

. R uncim

an, R elative D

eprivation and Social ]ustice (B erkeley: U

niversity of C

alifornia P ress, 1966), 9.

6 S ee note 27, chap. l.

7 S ee for instance R

uncim an, ll ff; D

avid F . A

berle, "A N

ote on R elative D

epriva- tion T

heory," in S ylvia L. T

hrupp, ed., M illennial D

ream s in A

ction: E ssays in

C om

parative Study (T he H

ague: M outon, 1962),

G ordon R

ose, "A nom

ie and D

eviation: A C

onceptual F ram

ew ork for E

m pirical S

tudies," B ritish ]ournal

o f Sociology, X

V II (M

arch 1966), P

eter T ow

nsend, "T h

e M eanings of Pov-

erty," B ritish ]ournal o

f Sociology, X III (S

eptem ber 1962),

and the status- inconsistency literature beginning w

ith G erhard L

enski, "S tatus C

rystallization: A

N on-V

ertical D im

ension of S ocial S

tatus," A m

erican Sociological R eview

, X IX

ugust 1954),

2 4

p r

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

erally recognized, how ever, th

at value standards can have other sources. A

n individual's point of reference m ay b

e his ow n past

condition, an abstract ideal, or the. standards articulated by a lead er

as w

ell as a "referen ce group." T

h e definition u

sed h

ere m akes

no assum

ptions about

th e

sources of value

expectations; it is

sim ilar to A

berle's definition of R D

as "a negative discrepancy

b etw

een legitim

ate expectations an d

actuality." 8 V

alues are th e d

esired events, objects, an

d conditions for w

hich m

en strive. 9 T h

e values m ost relevant to a theory of política! vio-

lence are th e general categories of conditions v

alu ed

by m any m

en, not those idiosyncratically sought b

y particular individuals. In

psy- chological term

s, values are th e goal objects of h

u m

an m

otivation, presum

ably attributable to or d eriv

ed from

basic "n eed

s" or "in- stincts." T

h ere have b

een in

n u

m erab

le attem pts to identify and

categorize "n

eed s,"

"goals," or

"v alu

es" for

purposes of psy-

chological, sociological, an d

political analysis. F reu

d postulated a

single basic n eed

, E ros; H

en ry

M urray listed 12 "viscerogenic"

and 28 "p sy

ch o

g en

ic" needs. 10 T

h ree influential an

d reasonably

parsim onious lists are sum

m arized in table l

an d

related to one another. A

three-fold categorization th at includes w

elfare values, pow

er values, an d

interpersonal values is u sed

here. T h

ere is no n

eed for originality in

su ch

a schem e; it is a com

posite typology, representing

values com

m on to o

th er schem

es an d

relevant to the genesis o

f collective R D

. W

elfare values

are those

th at contribute directly to physical

w ell-being an

d self-realization. T

h ey

in clu

d e th

e physical goods of life-fo

o d

, shelter, h

ealth

services, an d

physical

co m

fo rts-

and th e d

ev elo

p m

en t an

d u

se of physical an d

m ental abilities.

T hese

tw o

classes of w

elfare values

are referred to

b elo

w as

econom ic an

d self-actualization values. S

elf-actualization values m

ay b e instrum

ental to th e attainm

ent of o th

er w elfare values an

vice versa. A side from

this, how ever, M

aslow an

d D

avies have argued persuasively th

at "self-actualization" is an en

d in

itself for m

an y

m en: w

e take intrinsic satisfaction in exercising o

u r in-

tellects an d

o u

r h an

d sY

P ow

er values are those th at d

eterm in

e the extent to w

hich inen can influence the actions o f others and

avoid u n

w an

ted interference b

y others in

th eir ow

n actions. P o

w er

values especially salient for política! violence include th e desire

8 A berle, 209.

9 F ollow

ing the usage of H arold L

assw ell and A

braham K

a plan, P ow

er and So- ciety: A

F ram

ew orkfor P

olitical Inquiry (N ew

H aven: Y

ale U niversity P

ress, 1950), 10 S

um m

arily listed and discussed in Jam es C

. D avies, H

um an N

ature in P olitics

(N ew

Y ork: W

iley, 1963). 11 M

aslow , passim

; D avies,

2 5

1 ' H

1! •:¡ ::¡ _111

i ' :q .¡. :. i' r !•111: 1''1 !f ,, ,,¡1 ¡ Hl 1 '8 iil:. .. ¡··¡···¡· ;: ,.,,. i ' ·, ';¡ ;"j '1 ' ,¡¡; : .. :11' :¡, .• :¡·fl f 1 ; ... .. t.l·· 1¡f' il J! 'ra !if:',¡ ik 1:

1 .. .

'\1 '

1,!!

W H

Y M

E N

H E

M aslow

's N eed

H ierarchy"

P hysical

S elf-actual- ization

S afety, order

L ove, belong- ingness

S elf-esteem

T A

B L

E 1

F o

u r L

ists of V alue C

ategories

L assw

ell and K

aplan's V

aluesb

R uncim

an's D

im ensions o

f Social

I nequality e

W E

L F

A R

E V

A L

U E

W ell-being,

E conom

ic class w

ealth S

kill, enlight- en

m en

D E

F E

R E

N C

V A

L U

E S

P o

w er

P ow

er A

tfection -

R espect

S tatus

R ectitude

C om

posite T

ypology

} voluo'

P o

w er values

l ln

terp erso

n al

values

• A .

H .

M aslow

, "A T

heory of H u

m an

M otivation," P

sychological R eview

, L

(1943), 370-39& , sum

m arized and discussed in

Jam es C

. D avies, H

um an N

ature in P

olitics: The. D ynam

ics o f P

olitical B ehavior (N

ew Y

ork: W iley, 1963), 8-63.

M aslow

postulates a hierarchy am ong needs: safety an

d order needs w

ill not em erge

until physical .needs are satisfied, !ove needs em erge only after safety n

eed s are

satisfied, etc. T h

e needs are listed h ere in

M aslow

's proposed order w ith th

e ex- ception of self-actualization,

w hich h

e suggests

em erges

after love n

eed s

are satisfied.

b P ow

er and Society, 55-56. e R

elative D eprivation,

chap. 3.

R uncim

an does

n o

t treat these explicitly as values or needs. b

u t as conditions that groups have in varying degrees, an

d w

ith respect to w

hich p eo

p le ju

d g

e their relative satisfaction or deprivation.

to in

collective d

ecisio n

-m ak

in g

-to

vote, to

take part in

political com petition, to b

eco m

e a m em

b er of th

e political e lite

- and th

e related desires for self-determ ination an

d security,

for exam ple freedom

from oppressive political regulation or from

disorder. T

h ese tw

o classes of p o

w er values are referred to b

elo w

as participation an

d security values. Interpersonal values are the

psychological satisfactions w

e seek

in nonauthoritative interac-

tion w ith other individuals an

d groups. T

h ese values in

clu d

e th e

desire for status, i.e., occupancy of a generally recognized role b y

virtue

of w hich

w e

are granted sorne

m easure

of prestige b

those w ith w

hom w

e interact; the related n eed

to participate in

stable, supportive

g ro

u p

s-fam ily,

com m

unity, asso

ciatio n

s- th

at provide com panionship an

d affection; an

d th

e sense of cer- tainty

that derives from

sh ared

adherence to beh.efs about th e

nature of society an d

one' s place in it, an d

to norm s governing

social íhteraction.

T h

ese th

ree classes

of interpersonal values

are lab eled

status, com m

unality, an d

ideational coherence.

2 6

;. b. t:: ,. [ i

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

T h

e value expectatíons of a collectivity are the average value positions to

w hich its

m em

bers b eliev

e th ey

are justifiably en- titled. V

alue position is th e am

ount or level of a val u e actuall y attained. V

alue expectations refer to both p resen

t an d

future con- ditions. M

en ordinarily expect to keep w

h at they have; th

ey also

generally have a set of expectations an d

d em

an d

s about w hat they

should have in th

e future, w hich is usually as m

uch or m ore than

w hat they have at present. It is im

portant to note that value ex- pectations are defined w

ith reference tojustifiable value positions, m

eaning w h

at m en

b eliev

e th ey

are en titled

to g et or m

aintain, not m

erely w h

at they faintly h o

p e to attain. H

oselitz an d

W illner

m ake

a precisely

com parable

distinction b

etw een

expectation

and aspiration:

E xpectations are a rnanifestation of th

e prevailing norm s set b

th e

irnm ediate

social an

d cultural environm

ent. W h

eth er ex-

p ressed

in econom

ic or social term s, the basis upon w

hich th e

individual forros his expectations is th e sense of w

hat is right- fully o

w ed

to him . T

h e source o

f that sen se of rightness m ay b

e w

hat his ancestors have enjoyed, w hat h

e has h ad

in the past,

w hat tradition ascribes to him

, an d

his position in relation to

that of others in th

e society. A spirations, on th

e other hand, rep

resen t th

at w hich h

e w o

u ld

like to have b u

t has not neces- sarily h

ad or co

n sid

ered his d

u e .

. . P

T he value capabilíties of a collectivity are the average value

positions its

m em

bers perceive them

selves capable of attaining or m

aintaining. V

alue capabilities

also have

both p

resen t an

future connotations.

In the present, value capabilities are

rep- resen

ted b

y w

hat m en

have actually b een

able to attain or have b

een p

ro v

id ed

by th eir environm

ent: th eir value position. In

the future, value capabilities are w

h at m

en b

eliev e th

eir skills, th eir

fellow s, an

d th

eir rulers w ill, in th

e course o f tim

e, p erm

it th em

to keep or attain: th

eir value potential. It is possible to distinguish b

etw een

p erceiv

ed an

d actual value potential: m

en 's capacities

for attaining th eir value expectations m

ay b e substantially greater

or less th an

they believe th em

to be. H ow

ever, it is perceived value potentiai that determ

ines p resen

t behavior. It is also likely that

p erceiv

value potential

is considerably

m ore

im portant

than p

resen t value

position in determ ining how

p eo

p le assess

their capabilities. T h

e attained value positions of a group m ay

1' B ert H

oselitz an d

A nn W

illner, "E conom

ic D evelopm

ent, P olítica! S

trategies, and A

m erican A

id," in M orton A

. K

aplan, ed., T he R

evolution in W orld P

olitics (N

ew Y

ork: W iley, 1962), 363.

2 7

L . '

Y 1

' ' ¡: ' l ¡ W

H Y

M E

N R

E B

E L

b e quite low

ith respect to value expectations, b u

t p erceiv

deprivation an d

m anifestations of discontent w

ill ten d

to b e low

to the extent that potential is perceived to b

e high. T h

e obverse relationship

characterizes sorne

prerevolutionary societies:

at- tain

ed value positions appear relatively high w

ith respect to value expectations, b

u t th

e potential for increasing or ev en

m aintaining

value positions is p erceiv

ed to b

e declining. T h

ese assertions are d

o cu

m en

ted in

th e follow

ing chapters. T

h e courses of action p

eo p

le have available to th em

for attain- ing or m

aintaining th eir d

esired value positions are th

eir value opportuníties, th

ree types o f w

hich can b e distinguished: personal,

societal, an d

política!. P ersonal opportunitíes are individuals' in-

h erited

an d

acquired capacities for value-enhancing action.

In- h

erited capacities are norm

ally distributed in m

ost collectivities an

d thus have little relevance to a theory of collective violence.

T h

e technical

skills an

general know

ledge acquired

through education, how

ever, can greatly increase m en

's sense of personal com

petence, particularly in im

proving th eir m

aterial value posi- tions.

Societal opportunitíes

are th

e norm

al courses

of action available to m

em bers of a collectivity for direct value-enhancing

action. S

ocietal opportunities for econom ic value attainm

ent in- elude th

e range an d

n u

m b

er of rem unerative occupations, th

e ease of access to those occupations, an

d th

e econom ic resources avail-

able to com pensate those engaged. P

articipation values can b e

attained through

routinized channels for

political participation

an d

recruitm ent to th

e political elite; the attainm ent of security

values is largely a function of th e capacity of th

e political system

for sim

ultaneously m

inim izing

detailed regulation

of h

u m

activity an d

m aintaining interna! arder. Interpersonal values are

en h

an ced

to th e extent that fam

ilia! an

d com

m unal life is free

from externa! disruption, an

d to th

e extent that there are generally accepted norm

s on the basis of w hich status an

d resp

ect are ac- corded in

interpersonal relations. P olítical opportunítíes are th

e norm

al courses of action available to m em

bers of a collectivity for

inducing others

to provide

th em

ith value

satisfactions. P

olitical opportunities refer to political actions as m

eans rather than ends; opportunities for political participation as an en

d in

itself are com

prised u n

d er societal value opportunities. T

h e sam

e procedures

an d

institutions th at provide. th

e latter usually also provide th

e m eans

by w h

ich collectivities can d

em an

d w

elfare an

d p

o w

er benefits from a governm

ent. rh e re

are o th

er kinds of opportunities

that are

"political" in

e sen

se inti:m

ded here,

including collective bargaining procedures by w hich w

orkers can d

em an

d greater w

elfare benefits from

th eir em

ployers, an d

as-

2 8

t 1 · .. :

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

sociational activity

by subcultural

groups designed to increase

their m em

b ers' status in dealing w

ith m em

bers of other groups. T

h e scope of R

D is its prevalence w

ith respect to each class of values am

ong th e m

em bers o

f a ·collectivity. S orne deprivations

are characteristic o f sorne m

em bers of all groups. D

eprivation is relevant

to th

e disposition to

collective violence to the extent that m

any p eo

p le feel discontented about the sam

e things. U nex-

p ected

personal deprivations such as failure to obtain an expected prom

otion or th e infidelity of a spouse ordinarily affect few

people at any given tim

e an d

are therefore narrow in

scope. E vents an

patterns of conditions

like th e

suppression of a political party,

a drastic inflation, or th e decline of a group's status relative to its

reference groüp are likely to precipitate feelings of R

D am

o.ng w

hole groups or categories of p eo

p le an

d are w

ide in scope. A

berle dichotom

izes w hat is h

ere caB ed scope into tw

o general classes of deprivations, those th

at are personal an d

those that are group ex- periences.13 S

cope is b etter regarded as a continuum

: it should b e

possible to identify, for exam ple by survey techniques, th

e propor- tion of p

eo p

le in any collectivity that feels d

ep riv

ed w

ith respect to any specified class of

. T

h e intensity of R

D is th

e extent o f negative affect that is asso-

ciated w ith its perception, or in

o th

er w ords th

e sharpness of dis- content or anger to w

hich it gives rise. R uncim

an sim ilarly speaks

of the "d eg

ree" of deprivation, defined as "th e intensity w

ith w hich

it is felt." 14

Intensity, like scope, is subject to direct em

pirical assessm

ent: one can infer th e intensity of m

en 's feelings about R

using interview

, projective,

an d

content

analytic techniques,

am ong others. 15

M oreover it is possible to specify a n

u m

b er of

properties of value expectations an d

value capabilities that increase or decrease the scope an

d intensity o

f deprivation, an d

th at can b

e exam

ined w ithout necessarily relying on survey techniques. S

orne determ

inants of th e scope an

d intensity of R

D are exam

ined in the follow

ing chapter. P

otential for collective violence, th e d

ep en

d en

t variable of the hypothesis stated at th

e outset of this section, is defined as th e

scope an d

intensity of th e disposition am

ong m em

bers of a col- lectivity to take violent action against others. F

o r m

any research ·purposes this potential m

ay b e treated

as a hypothetical construct, a disposition to act inferred to exist in

the m inds o

f m any m

em bers

13 A berle, 210.

14 R uncim

an, 10. 15 O

n e appropriate interview

ing technique, the self-anchoring scale, is u sed

in H

adley C antril, T

he P attern o

fH u

m a

n C

oncerns (N ew

B runsw

ick: R utgers U

niver- sity P

ress, 1965).

2 9

•

W H

Y M

E N

R E

D E

of a collectivity b u

t m easu

red only in term

s of its antecedents, the intensity an

d scope of R

D , or in term

s of its consequences, th

e m agnitude of collective violence. If it could not conceivably

b e assessed m

ore directly there w o

u ld

b e no p

o in

t in stating hy-

potheses about it; th e only testable hypothesis w

o u

ld b

e that th e

greater th e intensity an

d scope of relative deprivation, th

e greater the m

agnitude of collective violence. In principie, how

ever, th e

potential for collective violence can b e in

d ep

en d

en tly

assessed. O

n e m

eans is

th e

u se of interview

techniques that specifically ask p

eo p

le w h

eth er th

ey are p

rep ared

to participate in a riot, or

that allow th

em to project violent sentim

ents in response to am

- bivalent

stim uli.

T h

ese tech

n iq

u es

can b e

u sed

structured or laboratory situations. T

h ey

also can b e an

d have b

een em

p lo

y ed

natural

populations. L

ouis H

arris, for

exam ple,

has p

o lled

black A

m ericans ab

o u

t th eir

to riot. 16 lt also is pos- sible

to construct sim

ulation studies

of prerevolutionary situa-

tions an d

assess th e responses of players, an approach b

ein g

de- v

elo p

by S

chw artz.

17 T

his diversity

of approaches seem

s to

justify treating potential for collective violence as a crucial in-

tervening variable b etw

een deprivation-induced discontent an

political violence, rather than as a m erely hypothetical an

d su-

perfl.uous construct.

T h

e S

o u

rces o f A

g g

ressio u

P sychological theories about the origins of h

u m

an aggression

provide an

explicit m

otivational explanation

for the

p ro

p o

sed

causal link b etw

een relative deprivation an

d collective violence.

T h

ere is a variety of theoretical w ritings on this question, sorne

of it speculative, sorne of it b ased

on em pirical research. S

orne psychological "th

eo ries" ab

o u

t th e sources of aggressive behavior

can b e disregarded at th

e outset. T h

ere is little support for pseudo- psychological assertions

th at m

ost or all revolutionaries or con- spirators are deviants, fools, or th

e m aladjusted.

19 P sychodynam

ic explanations of the "revolutionary personality" m

ay b e useful for

16 W illiam

B rink .and L

ouis H

arris, B lack and W

hite: A Study o

f U .S.

R acial

A ttitudes T

oday (N ew

Y ork: S

im on an

d S

chuster, 1967), 266. 17 D

av id

S chw

artz, "P olitical A

lienation: A P

relim inary E

x p

erim en

t o n

th e P

sy- chology of R

evolution's F

irst S tage," p

ap er read

at th e A

nnual M eeting of th

e A

m erican P

olitical S cience A

ssociation (1967). 18 P

ortions of this section first ap p

eared in T

ed G

urr, "P sychological F

actors in

C ivil V

iolence," W orld P

olitics, X X

(January 1968), 247-251. 19 S

ee for exam ple K

urt R iezler, "O

n the P

sychology of th e M

o d

em R

evolution," Social R

esearch, X (S

eptem ber 1943), 320-336; portions of E

ric H offer's generally

useful T he True B

eliever: T houghts on the N

ature o f M

ass M ovem

ents (N ew

Y ork:

H arper, 1951); an

d D

o n

ald J. G

oodspeed, T he C

onspirators: A Study o

f the C oup

d'E tat (N

ew Y

ork: T h

e V iking P

ress, 1962).

llE L

A T

IV E

U E

P IU

V A

T IO

N A

N U

T H

E IM

P E

T U

S T

O V

IO L

E N

C E

m icroanalysis of particular events, b

u t contribute relatively little

to general theories of collective action. 2

0 A

ggression-prone victim s

of m aladaptive socialization processes are found in

every society, and

am ong

th e

actors in

m ost outbreaks

of political violence,

b u

t th ey

are m u

ch m

ore likely to b e m

obilized b y

strife than to constitute it in

its entirety. N or can a general theory of political

strife b

e b ased

solely on culturally specific

theories of m

odal personality traits, though it sh

o u

ld take account of their effects

(discussed in chapter 6). T

h e m

ost generally relevant psychologi- cal theories are those that deal w

ith the sources an d

characteristics of aggression in

all m en, regardless of culture. S

uch psychological theory

provides a

m otivational

base for

theory about political

violence an d

prov:i:des a m eans for identifying an

d specifyipg the

operation of sorne explanatory variables. T

h ere are three distinguishable psychological assum

ptions about the generic sources of h

u m

an aggression: that aggression is solely

instinctive, th at it is solely learn

ed , or th

at it is an innate response activitated by frustration.

21 O n

e or another of these is im plicit in

m ost theoretical approaches to

civil strife that have no explicit m

otivational base. T h

e instinct theories of aggression, rep resen

ted

am ong others by F

reu d

's qualified attribution of th e im

pulse to destructiveness to a death instinct an

d by L

orenz's view of aggres-

sion as a survival-enhancing instinct, assum e that m

ost or all m en

have w

ith in

th em

an autonornous source of aggressive im pulses,

a drive to aggress that, in L

orenz's w ords, exhibits "irresistible

outbreaks w

h ich

recur w

ith

rhythm ical

regularity." 22 A lthough

there is no definitive su p

p o

rt for this assum ption, its advocates,

including F reu

d an

d L

orenz, have often ap p

lied it to the explana-

tion of collective as w ell as individual aggression. 23 T

h e assum

2 0

A recen

t study of this type is E . V

íctor W olfenstein, T

he R evolutionary Per-

sonality: L enin, T

rotsky, G andhi (P

rinceton: P rinceton U

niversity P ress, 1967).

21 A threat-aggression seq

u en

ce is discussed below .

22 K onard L

orenz, O n A

ggression (N ew

Y ork: H

arcourt, B race, an

d W

orld, 1966), chap. 4, quotation from

xii. T h

e aggressive instinct in anim

als an d

m an is said ordi-

narily to b e triggered b

y th

e p resen

ce or approach of an o

th er creature. In

th e absence

of such an activator, how ever, aggression w

ill occur spontaneously. S uch assertions

are su p

p o

rted b

y som

ew hat idiosyncratic observational reports on anim

al behavior. 23 S

ee for exam ple S

igm und F

reu d

, C ivilization and Its D

iscontents, trans. Joan R

iviere (L

ondon: T h

e H

ogarth P

ress, 1930); L

orenz, chaps. 13, 14; an d

F ranz

A lexander, "T

h e P

sychiatric A spects of W

ar an d

P eace," A

m erican ]ournal o

f So- ciology,

L X

V I (1941), 504-520. F

reu d

's instinctual interpretation of aggression is advanced in

his later w orks; his early view

w as th

at aggression is a response to frus- tration o

f pleasure-seeking behavior. F o

r review s an

d critiques of o

th er instinct

') theories o

f aggression see L eo

n ard

B erkow

itz, A ggression: A

Social P sychological

A nalysis (N

ew Y

ork: M

cG raw

-H ill, 1962), chap.

1, an d

R alph L

. H

ollow ay, Jr.,

fe "H

u m

an A

ggression: T h

e N

eed for a

S pecies-S

pecific F ram

ew ork,"

in M

orton F

ried an

d others, eds., W

ar: T he A

nthropology o f A

rm ed C

onflict and A ggression

- i'' · (C arden C

ity, N ew

Y ork: N

atural H istory P

ress, 1968), 29-48.

31 .

1""1

¡ J t ! 1

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

tion is ev id

en t in

H o

b b

es' characterization of m an in

th e state of

nature, an d

perhaps im plicit in

N ieburg's recen

t concern for "th e

people's capability for outraged, uncontrolled, bitter, an d

bloody violence," 24 b

u t plays no significant role in

contem porary theories

of civil strife. Just th

e opposite assum ption, that aggressive behavior is solely

or prim arily learned, characterizes th

e w ork of sorne child an

d so-

cial psychologists, w hose evidence indicates that sorne aggressive

behaviors are learn ed

an d

u sed

strategically in th

e service of par- ticular g

o als-

aggression by children an d

adolescents to secure at- tention, by adults to express dom

inance strivings, by groups in com -

petition for scarce values, by m ilitary personnel in

th e service of

national policy. 25 T his assum

ption, that violence is a learn ed

re- sponse, rationalistically chosen an

d dispassionately em

ployed, is com

m on to a n

u m

b er of recen

t theoretical approaches to collective conflict. A

m ong theorists of revolution, J ohnson repeatedly, though

not consistently, speaks of civil violence as "purposive," as "form s

of behavior intended to disorient th e behavior of others, th

ereb y

bringing about the dem

ise of a h ated

social system ." 26 T

im asheff

regards revolution as a "resid u

al" event, an ex p

ed ien

t "reso rted

to w

h en

o th

er w ays of overcom

ing tensions have failed." 27 M or-

rison attributes rural discontent an d

strife in developing nations

to "relative deprivation," defined as it is here, b u

t h e explicitly

assum es rationality in

th e behavior of the d

ep riv

ed w

h en

h e hypoth-

esizes that "all attem pts to red

u ce discontent are selected

on th e

basis of th e actor' s perception of the probability of th

e attem pt' s re-

ducing th e discontent." 28 P

arsons attem pts to fit political violence

into th e fram

ew ork. of social interaction theory, treating th

e resort to force as a w

ay of acting chosen b y

the actor(s) for purposes of deterrence, punishm

ent, or sym bolic dem

onstration of capacity to act. 29 S

chelling represents those conflict theorists w ho explicitly

24 H . L

. N ieburg, "T

h e T

hreat ofV iolence and S

ocial C hange," A

m erican P

olitical Science R

eview , L

V I (D

ecem ber 1962), 870.

25 A characteristic study is A

lbert B andura and R

ichard H . W

alters, Social L earning

and P ersonality D

evelopm ent (N

ew Y

ork: H

olt, R inehart and W

inston, 1963).

2 6

C halm

ers Johnson, R evolutionary C

hange (B oston: L

ittle, B row

n, 1966), 12, 13, italics added.

27 N icholas S. T

im asheff, W

ar and R evolution (N

ew Y

ork: S heed and W

ard, 1965), 154.

2 8

D en

ton E . M

orrison, "R elative D

eprivation and R ural D

iscontent in D evelop-

ing C ountries: A

T heoretical P

roposal," paper read at the A nnual M

eeting of the A

m erican A

ssociation for the A dvancem

ent of S cience (1966), 6.

29 T alcott P

arsons, "S orne R

eflections on the P lace of F

orce in Social P rocess,"

in H arry E

ckstein, ed., Interna! W ar: P

roblem s and A

pproaches (N ew

Y ork: T

h e

F ree P

ress, 1964), 34-35.

¡.

e t r t

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

assum e rational behavior an

d in

terd ep

en d

en ce of adversaries' de-

cisions in all types of conflict. 30

T h

e third psychological assum ption is that m

uch aggression oc- curs as a response to frustratiori. "F

ru stratio

n " is an interference

w ith goal-directed behavior; "aggression" is behavior designed to

injure, physically or otherw ise, those tow

ard w hom

it is directed. T

h e disposition to resp

o n

d aggressively w

h en

frustrated is part of m

an' s biological m akeup; th

ere is a biologically in h

eren t tend-

ency, in m

en an

d anim

als, to attack th e frustrating agent. T

his is n

o t necessarily incom

patible w ith the p

reced in

g tw

o assum p-

tions. F rustration-aggression theory is m

ore system atically devel-

oped, how

ever, an

has substantially

m ore

em pirical

support than theories th

at assum e eith

er that all m en

have a free-flow ing

source of destructive en erg

th at all aggression is im

itative an d

instrum

ental. T

h e m

ost influential form ulation of frustration-aggression theory

w as proposed b

y D

ollard an d

his colleagues at Y ale in

1939. T h

e basic postulate is "th

at th e occurrence of aggressive behavior al-

w ays presupposes the existence of frustration and, contrariw

ise, that th

e existence of frustration alw ays leads to sorne form

of ag- gression." It is clear from

the rem ain

d er of th

e study that the sec- ond p

art of th e postulate w

as n o

t in ten

d ed

to suggest eith er that

aggression w as th

e only possible response to frustration, or that there

w as

no difference b etw

een the

instigation to aggression,

su b

seq u

en tly

called "an

g er,"

an d

the

actual occurrence of ag- gression.31 M

iller later offered a clarification: frustration produces instigations

to various

responses, o

n e

of w hich

is aggression.

If the non-aggressive

responses do

n o

t relieve the frustration,

"th e greater is th

e probability that the instigation to aggression eventually w

ill b eco

m e dom

inant so that sorne response of ag- gression

w ill

occur." 32 E

m pirical

studies identify fundam

ental responses to frustration o

th er than aggression. H

im m

elw eit sum

30 T hom

as C . S

chelling, T he Strategy ofC

onjlict (C am

bridge, M ass.: H

arvard U ni-

versity P ress, 1960), 4.

31 John D ollard and others, F

rustration a n

d A

ggression (N ew

H aven: Y

ale U ni-

versity P ress, 1939), quotation from

p. l. M ajor sum

m aries of the experim

ental and theoretical literature include H

ilde T . H

im m

elw eit, "F

rustration and A ggression:

A R

eview of R

ecent E xperim

ental W ork," in P

sychological F actors o

f P eace and

W ar, ed. T

. H . P

ear (L ondon: H

utchinson, 1950), 161-91; E lton D

. M cN

eil, "P sy-

chology and A ggression," ]ournal o

f C onjlict R

esolution, U I (}une 1959), 195-294;

A rnold H

. B

uss, T he P

sychology o f A

ggression (N ew

Y ork: John W

iley, 1961); A

ubrey J. Y ates, F

rustration a n

d C

onjlict (N ew

Y ork: John W

iley, 1962), especially chaps. 2-4; and B

erkow itz, A

ggression. 32 N

eal E . M

iller and others, "T h

e F rustration-A

ggression H ypothesis," P

sycho- logical R

eview , X

L V

IT I (July 1941), quotation from

339.

:¡ ¡ ,¡ 1 r-1 l 1,1 w 'lj w \r .. r[ :1 '1' \\ : '1 w 1+ 1¡: 'J¡ 1 ' ''''1 .:'!l

1 .

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

m arizes

experim ental

evidence that frustration in children can

lead to regression in th e fonn of low

ering intellectual perform ance,

and to evasion. 33 F o

u r response patterns w

ere found in an exam

ina- tion of frustration-induced behaviors in a N

ew G

u in

ea tribe: sub- m

ission, d

ep en

d en

ce, avoidance,

and aggression. T

h e

prim ary

em otional response to frustrations am

ong children is rage or anger, m

odified by later learning experiences. 34 P rolonged frustration,

in th e forro of continuous unem

ploym ent, has b

een observed to

result in apathy. 35

T h

ese findings an d

observations are qualifications of th e basic

frustration-aggressÚ m

thesis, not refutations of it. T

h e basic ex-

planatory that frustration-aggression theory contributes

to the understanding of h

u m

an conflict, and specifically to th

e analysis of political violence, is th

e principie that anger functions as a drive. In

th e recen

t reform ulation of th

e theory b y

B erkow

itz, the perception of frustration is said to arouse anger. A

ggressive responses ten

d to occur only w

h en

they are evoked by an externa! cue, that is, w

h en

th e angered person sees an

attackable object or person that h

e associates w ith th

e source of frustration. T his argu-

m ent, and th

e experim ental evidence that supports it, suggests

that an angered person is not likely to strike o u

t at any object in

his environm ent, b

u t only at th

e targets h e thinks are respon-

sible. T h

e crucial point is that occurrence of such an attack is an inherently

s·atisfying response to

anger; if th

e attacker has

done sorne harm to his frustrator, his anger is reduced, w

h eth

er or not he succeeds in

reducing the level of frustration p er se. 36 If

frustration continues, aggression is likely to recur. If it is red u

ced

as a result of the attack, th e ten

d en

cy to attack is reinforced, an

th e onset of anger in th

e future is increasingly likely to b e accom

- p

an ied

by aggression. M

aier has u n

d ertak

en m

any studies w hich support the thesis

that innate frustration-induced behaviors becom e ends in them

- selves for the actors, u

n related

to further goals, and qualitatively different from

goal-directed behavior. H e suggests that there are

four frustration-induced responses, including regression, fixation, and resignation as

w ell as aggression. F

rustration-instigated be- havior is distinguished from

goal-directed behavior by a n u

m b

er of

33 H im

m elw

eit, 172. 34 J.

M . V

. W hiting, '"T

he F rustration C

om plex in K

w om

a S ociety," M

an, X

L IV

(N ovem

ber-D ecem

ber 1944), 140-144. 35 M

arie L azarsfeld and H

ans Z eisal, '"D

ie A rbeitslosen von M

arienthal," P sy-

chologische M onographen, v (1933), sum

m arized in

H irnrnelw

eit, 172. 36 O

n the drive properties of anger see B

erkow itz, "T

h e C

oncept of A ggressive

D rive," and S. F

eshbach, "'T he F

unction of A ggression and the R

egulation of A g-

gressive D rive," P

sychological R eview

, L X

X I (July 1964), 257-272.

3 4

r r ' '"1'

llE L

A T

IV E

D E

P R

IV A

T IO

N A

N D

T H

E IM

P E

T U

S T

O V

IO L

E N

C E

characteristics: it tends to b e fixed an

d com

pulsive; it is not neces- sarily d

eterred by punishm

ent, w hich m

ay instead increase the degree

of frustration; it takes

the forro m

ost readily available, little infiuenced by anticipated consequences; an

d it is satisfying

in itself. 37 F

urtherm ore the original goal w

hich suffered frustra- tion m

ay becom e largely irrelevant to behavior. "A

ggression then becom

es a function of the frustration, th e previously existing goal

response having b een

replaced b y

behavior w hich is controlled

by an entirely different process." 38

T h

e threat-aggression sequence is another behavioral m

echa- nism

that a n u

m b

er of psychologists h a ve argued is as fundam

ental, if not as com

m on, as th

e frustration-aggression relationship. C lín-

ica! and observational evidence suggests that th e greater the per-

ceived threat to life, th e greater the violent response. A

ccording to W

edge, "W h

en the .value directly at stake is life, violent response

occurs as reaction to fear rather than expression of anger." 39 S ur-

veys of th e effects of bom

bing on J a panes e, G erm

an, and E nglish

civilian populations during W orld W

ar II show that heavy bom

b- in

g s-in

clu d

in g

those of H iroshim

a an d

N ag

asak i-first produced

acute fear, not anger, b u

t also generally led to increased hostility

tow ard both th

e enem y and th

e g o

v em

m en

t that failed to p rev

en t

the bom bings. 40 E

xperim ents w

ith anim als provide substantiating

evidence: events that im m

ediately an d

actively threaten the con- tinued existence of th

e organism trigger avoidance-survival m

ech- anism

s, w hich can include extraordinarily violent behavior. T

h e

threat-aggression sequence can b e in

terp reted

as a special case of the

frustration-aggression relationship,

as B

erkow itz

does. A

. threat to life is an anÚ

cipated frustration; as the degree o f threat

increases, fear and anger rise sim ultaneously, and th

e extent to w

hich fear predom inates m

ay b e "a function of th

e individual's perceived pow

er to control or h u

rt his frustrater relative to the frustrater's p

o w

er to control or harm him

." 41 lt nonetheless seem s

likely tl1at people have a fundam ental disposition to respond ag-

37 M aier, 92-115, 159-161; also see Y

ates, 24-30, 36-56. 38 N

orm an R

. F . M

aier, "T h

e R ole of F

rustration in S ocial M

overnents," P sycho-

logical R eview

, L X

IX (N

ovem ber 1942), 587.

39 B ryant W

edge, '"T he C

ase S tudy of S

tudent P olitical V

iolence: B razil, 1964,

and the D om

inican R epublic, 1965," W

orld P olitics, X

X I (January 1969), 195-196.

A lso see Jerom

e F rank, Sanity and Survival: P

sychological A spects o

f W ar and

Peace (N ew

Y ork: V

intage B ooks, 1968), 75.

4 0

l. L . Janis, A

ir W ar and E

m otional Stress; P

sychological Studies o f B

om bing

and C ivilian D

efense (N ew

Y ork: M

cG raw

-H ill, 1951), 4-152. C

om parable reactions

have b een

observed in rnany disaster studies. S

ee for exam ple G

eorge W . B

aker and D

w ight W

. C haprnan, eds., M

an and Society in D isaster (N

ew Y

ork: B asic

B ooks, 1962). 41 B

erkow itz, A

ggression, 42-46, quotation from 45.

35 •. , f i:. ; l r f t 1 :{' l. 1 f, ¡;-r \ ,, ¡; S ¡,: ['! r f i·

l \ ·,;.; i{ l. ¡ ·-'

W H

Y M

E N

R E

D E

gressively to extrem e fear itself; if so, the response can reinforce

an d

b e reinforced b

y frustration-induced anger. T

h e relationship

appears especially

relevant in

evaluating

th e

effect of police

and m

ilitary actions in

precipitating

an d

prolonging collective

violence. T

h e

frustration-aggression an

the related

threat-aggression m

echanism s provide th

e basic m otivational link b

etw een

R D

an d

e potential for collective violence. T h

ey are n

o t inconsistent

w ith the p

resen ce of learn

ed an

d purposive elem

ents in acts of in-

dividual an

collective violence,

how ever.

M en

feel

d ep

riv ed

ith respect to w h

at th ey

have learn ed

to value an d

to w hat th

have to do. T

h e beliefs an

d sym

bols th at d

eterm in

e the tim

ing, form s, an

d objects of violence are learned. If th

eir anger is pow

erful an d

persistent, m en

can em ploy m

uch reason an d

inven- tiveness in

devising w ays to givé it violent expression. S

orne such m

en m

ay learn to value violence for its o w

n sake. B

u t m

uch of this learning takes place after anger has already b

een aroused; indi-

viduals w

ho are

dispassionately violent

often are

using tech- niques th

at p ro

v ed

useful an d

satisfying in response to p

ast frus- trations.

T h

ere also is an ev id

en t sense of p

u rp

o se am

ong m any of th

e participants in

m ost outbreaks of collective violence, in

th e sen

se that th

ey expect violent action to en

h an

ce th eir value position.

R evolutionary leaders p

u t th

eir follow ers' anger to th

eir purpose of seizing pow

er; rioters take advantage o f disorder to loot stores

for food an d

furniture; dem onstrators h

o p

e to p ersu

ad e th

eir rulers to take rem

edia} action. T h

e nature an d

strength of th ese purposes

are m ajor determ

inants of th e form

an d

tactics o f collective vio-

lence. B ut in

m ost instances th

ey ap

p ear to reinforce or ch

an n

el th e

ím petus to violence, an

d are infrequently an autonom

ous m otive

for violence. T his assertion is m

ad e w

ithout an attem pt to su

p p

o rt

it, b u

t it is suceptible to em pirical test. It is true, an

d th

e frustra- tion-aggression relationship is significant for política} violence; to th

e extent that actors in political violence m anifest or adm

it to sorne degree of anger. 42

In sum

m ary, the prim

ary source of th e h

u m

an capacity for vio-

len ce appears to b

e the frustration-aggression m echanism

. F rus-

tration does

not necessarily lead to violence, an

d violence for

42 A nger is quite often accom

panied by other affective elem ents, notably excite-

m ent; th

e test proposed here is w h

eth er anger is present in

substantial degree. E

xciternent does not seern to b e an in

d ep

en d

en t affective state b

u t a general em

o- tional

arousal that precedes

an d

accom panies

goal-consurnrnatory activity; th

e angry m

an w ho anticipates a riot is excited for m

uch the sam e reasons that a starv-

ing m an is excited at th

e sm ell of food cooking.

3 6

·!'

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

sorne m en

is m otivated b

y expectations of gain. T

h e anger in

d u

ced

by frustration, how ever, is a m

otivating force that disposes m en

to aggression, irrespective of its instrum

entalities. If frustrations are sufficiently prolonged or sharply felt, aggression is quite likely, if not certain, to occur. T

o conclude that th

e relationship is not rele- vant to individual or collective violence is akin to the assertion that the law

o f gravitation is irrelevant to the theory o

f flight because not everything th

at goes u p

falls back to earth in accord w ith the

basic gravitational principie. T h

e frustration-aggression m echanism

is in

this sense analogous to th e law

of gravity: m en

w ho are frus-

trated have an innate disposition to do violence to its source in

proportion to th e intensity of th

eir frustration, ju st as objects are

attracted to one another in direct proportion to th

eir relative m asses

an d

inverse proportion to th eir distance. A

n u

m b

er of o th

er vari- ables influence th

e behavior of m en, an

d of objects, in

such cir- cum

stances: fo rm

en , th

eir beliefs, inhibitions, an d

social environ- m

ent; for objects in a gravitational field, th

eir energies, configura- tion, an

d the properties o

f th e m

ed iu

m in

w hich th

ey are situated.

B ut it seem

s ev en

less feasible to account for political violence w

ithout reference to th e properties o

f that dispose th

em to

violence th an

it is to construct a theory of flight w ithout refer-

en ce to the law

of gravitation. O n

earth, gravity can b e assum

ed a constant; am

ong m en, levels o

f frustration vary greatly.

R elativ

e D ep

riv atio

n a

n d

A n

alo g

o u

s C au

ses o f

P o

litical V io

len ce

R elative

deprivation, defined

as p

erceiv ed

discrepancy

be- tw

een

value expectations

an d

value capabilities, is

sufficiently general to com

prise o rb

e related to m

ost of the general "precondi- tions o

f revolution" identified in o

th er theoretical analyses. S

orne of th

ese conceptual relationships are exam ined here, n

o t to dem

on- strate th

at R D

is so m

eh o

w a "correct" concept an

d that others are

not, b u

t to show that in

addition to its relatively clear definition it can synthesize diverse o

th er notions.

F o

r A ristotle the principal cause of revolution is th

e aspiration for econom

ic or political eq u

ality on th

e p art of the com

m on p

eo p

le w

ho lack it, an d

th e aspiration o

f oligarchs for greater inequality . than they have, i.e. a discrepancy in both instances b

etw een

w hat

people have o f political an

d econom

ic goods relative to w hat they

think is justly theirs. 43 E d

w ard

s, w riting sorne tw

enty-three cen- turies later, asserts th

at all revolutions are d u

e to "repression of

43 T he P

olitics o f A

ristotle, trans. J. E . C

. W elldon (N

ew Y

ork: M acm

illan, 1883, 1905), 338-342.

3 7

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! '

1 1 >

W H

Y M

E N

R E

D E

elem ental w

ish es" an

d th

at th e violence of any revolution is pro-

portional to the d eg

ree of such repression. T h

e sense of repression, or "b

alk ed

disposition," develops w h

en "p

eo p

le com e to feel that

their legitim ate aspirations and ideas are being rep

ressed or per-

verted, that their entirely proper desires an d

am bitions are b

ein g

in d

ered

and th

w arted

. . . . " 44

P ettee's

concept of

"cram p"

sim ilarly resem

bles R D

.. P eople feel "cram

p ed

" w h

en th

ey find

that satisfaction of their basic needs for liberty an d

security is interfered w

ith, an d

m oreover regard this repression as unneces-

sary and avoidable, h en

ce unjustified. "A revolution takes place

w h

en th

e great m ajority of th

e society feel cram ped b

ey o

n d

toler- ance." 45

A nalogous'concepts are u

sed b

y contem

porary theorists. L ass-

w ell and K

aplan attribute political instability to the discrepancy b

etw een

·expectations an d

the "d:'egree o f .

. . realization of value

for th

e m

ass . . . . lt

is a

low

d eg

ree of realizatio

n -disparity

b etw

een

value position

an d

value

d em

an d

and ex

p ected

- w

hich is

m ost

directly effective." 46

Z ollschan

argues that

all activity, including revolutionary activity, begins w

ith "exigency," defined as "a discrepancy (for a person) b

etw een

a consciously or unconsciously d

esired or expected state o

f affairs an d

an actual situation." 47

B oth

of th

ese concepts

m ake

assum ptions

about states of m

in d

o f revolutionary actors, as do th

e concepts m en-

tioned in the p reced

in g

paragraph. J ohnson m akes no such assum

p- tions in identifying a "d

iseq u

ilib rated

social system " as a neces-

sary precondition

for revolution,

w hich

is explicitly

a m

acro- analytic

concept. Its

m anifestations

at the

individual level

of analysis m

ay b e T

eadily in terp

reted in term

s o f R

D , how

ever: it constitutes a discrepancy b

etw een

m eu's value expectations (col-

lectively, their "value structures") au d

their m eans for attaining

those values (collectively, the social system ' s "pattern of adapta-

tion to the environm

ent" an

d its capacity to "fulfill functional

requisites"). 48 S

orne theorists explicitly use th e term

s "frustration" or "depriva- tion" to represent th

e ím petus to collective violence. D

avies at- tributes

revolutionary outbreaks to th e frustration w

hich results

•• L yford P. E

dw ards, T

he N atural H

isto1·y o f R

evolution (C hicago: U

niversity of C

hicago P ress, 1927), 3-4, 30-33.

45 G eorge S. P

ettee, T he P

rocess o f R

evolution (N ew

Y ork: H

arper, 1938), chap. 2, quotation from

33. 46 L

assw ell and K

aplan, 264. 47 G

eorge K. Z ollschan and W

alter H irsch, eds., E

xplorations in Social C hange

(B oston: H

oughton M iffiin, 1964), x"xv, 89.

•• Johnson, chap. 5. F or a sim

ilar analysis see N eil J. S

m elser, T

heory ofC ollective

B ehavior (N

ew Y

ork: T h

e F ree P

ress, 1963), chaps. 2, 3.

3 8

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

from a short-term

decline in achievem ent follow

ing a long-term

increase that generated expectations about continuing increase.49 L

ern er sim

ilarly describes th e gap b

etw een

w hat people w

ant and w

hat they get as "frustrating" an d

. suggests revolutionary conse- quences. "T

h e spread of frustration in areas developing less rapidly

than their p eo

p le w

ish can b e seen

as th e outcom

e o f a d

eep im

- balance b

etw een

achievem ent an

d aspiration . . . aspiration out-

runs achievem ent so far that m

any people, e ven if they are m aking

sorne progress tow ard th

eir goal, are dissatisfied because they get so m

u eh less than th

ey w

ant." 5° C rozier says that th

e one elem en

t com

m on to all rebels is frustration, defined as "th

e inability to do som

ething one badly w ants to do, through circum

stances beyond one's control." 51

T h

e F eierab

en d

s associate political instability w

ith aggressive behavior, w hich is said to vary w

ith the extent o f

"system ic frustration." T

h e extent of system

ic fm stration is the

ratio of social w ant satisfaction to social w

ant form ation, or, in

R D

term

s, the discrepancy b etw

een p

resen t value position an

d value

expectations. 52

R elative deprivation is related to frustration by C

oser, and ap- p

lied to th

e explanafion of suicide rates. 53 H

oselitz an d

W illner

extending their distinction b etw

een expectations an

d aspirations:

link deprivation w ith the potential for revolution.

U nrealized

aspirations produce

feelings o

f disappointm

ent, b

u t unrealized

expectations result in feelings of deprivation.

D isappointm

ent is generally tolerable; deprivation is often in- tolerable. T

h e d

ep riv

ed individual feels im

pelled to rem edy,

b y

w hatever m

eans are available, th e m

aterial an d

psychic frus- trations p

ro d

u ced

in him . W

hereas disappointm ent m

ay b reed

e seeds of incipient revolution, deprivation serves as a catalyst for revolutionary action. 54

4 9

!am es C

. D

avies, "T ow

ard a T heory of R

evolution," A m

erican Sociological R

em ew

, X X

V II (F

ebruary 1962), 5-19. T h

e D avies thesis is also used by R

aym ond

and M anus M

idlarsky, "A T

heory o f R

evolution," ]ournal o f C

onfiict R eso-

lutw n, X

I (S eptem

ber 1967), 264-280, w ho characterize the discrepancy as a "rev-

olutionary gap." 50 D

aniel L em

er, "T ow

ard a C om

m unication T

heory of M odernization: A

S et of

C onsiderations," in L

ucían W . P

ye, ed., C om

m unications and P

olitical D evelop-

m ent (P

rinceton: P rinceton U

niversity P ress

1963) 327-350 quotations from 330-

335. ,

, ,

51 B rian C

rozier, T he R

ebels: A Study o

f P ost-W

ar lnsurrections (L ondon: C

hatto and W

indus, 1960), 15-16. 52 Ivo K.

and R osalind L

.. F eierabend, "A

ggressive B ehaviors W

ithin P olities

1948-1962; A C

ross-N ational S

tudy," ]oum al ofC

onfiict R esolution x

1966), 250-251. ,

53 L ew

is A . C

oser, C ontinuities in the Study o

f Social C onfiíct (N

ew Y

ork: T he

F ree P

ress, 1967), 56-62. 54 H

oselitz and W illner, 363.

3 9

r . ' í :, .:¡ j -

'l _i

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

T h

e anthropological literature

on A m

erican In d

ian response to

w hite co

n q

u est also m

akes use of th e deprivation concept. N

ash, for

exam ple,

show s

how deprivation m

ay occur eith er through

acceptance or

rejection by

Indians of w

hite values an

d skills,

an d

proposes th at th

e aggressive com ponents in

In d

ian revivalism

are a response to that deprivation.

55 G esch

w en

d er attributes th

e A

m erican N

egro revolt of the 1960s to "relative deprivation," de- fined in its conventional sociological sense of status discrepancy vis-a-vis a reference group. 56 G

altung, although h e does not u

se the concept of relative deprivation p

er se, attributes aggression w

ithin an d

am ong societies to status discrepancy, or "ran

k dis-

equilibrium ," in

w hat is essentially a generalized rephrasing of

the A ristotelian thesis w

ith w

h ich

this catalog of concepts began. If m

en or groups are high on o

n e dim

ension of a stratification sys- tem

, b u

t low on another, e.g., if th

ey have high p

o w

er or education b

u t low

incom e, th

ey are said to b

e disposed to use aggression to attain a high or eq

u ilib

rated position on all dim

ensions. 57

T his catalog could b

e ex ten

d ed

at length, b u

t only at the risk of belaboring th

e A

lm ost all theories-

th at p

u rp

o rt to ex-

plain violent collective b eh

av io

r assign a central place to a variable or co

n cep

t that generally an d

often specifically resem bles R

D as it

is defined here. S orne salient characteristics of th

e R D

variable are

not necessarily incorporated in th

ese o th

er concepts, how -

ever. S orne of them

, particularly those m aking use of "w

an t/g

et" form

ulations, m ake no referen

ce to th e justifiability or intensity o

f m

en ' s

val u e expectations,

nor to th e theoretical desirability of

taking into account b o

th actual an

d anticipated discrepancies b

e- tw

een

goals an

attainm ents.

M oreover,

w h

ile m

any of th

specify by illustration th e kinds of societal and political condi-

tions that constitute the variable or increase its m agnitude, few

include

specific propositions

ab o

u t its

determ inants,

an d

only sorne suggest categories for classifying the variable's m

anifesta- tions.

F inally, m

any theories do not provide a m

otivational ra- tionale for th

e causal connection th ey

propase b etw

een th

e vari- ables an

d the violent events tow

ard w hich it is su

p p

o sed

to dis- pose m

en.

55 P hi !leo N

ash "T h

e P lace of R

eligious R evivalism

in th

e F orm

ation of the ln ter-

cultural on K

lam ath R

eservation," Social A nthropology o

fN o

rth A

m eri-

can T ribes, ed. F

red E

ggan (C hicago: U

niversity of C hicago P

ress, 1937), •• Jam

es A . G

eschw ender, "S

ocial S tructure and the N

egro R evolt: A

n E xam

m a-

tion of S orne H

ypotheses," Social F orces, X

L IIT

(D ecem

ber 1964), 248-256. 57 Johan G

altung, "A S

tructural T h

eo ry

of A ggression," ]ournal ofP

eaceR esearch,

N o. 2, 1964, 95-119. G

altung also posits severa! variables that intervene b etw

een

rank disequilibrium and aggression, including lack of alternative m

eans an d

th e

extent o f cultural experience in

aggression.

4 0

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

T h

ere are

th ree

o th

er concepts frequently

em p

lo y

ed in

the analysis

of disruptive collective

b eh

av io

r th at are

not directly analogous to R

D b

u t that appear .to b

e alternatives to it: dissonance, anom

ie, an d

conflict. W ithout passing ju

d g

m en

t on th eir analytic

usefulness in o

th er contexts, it can b

e su g

g ested

th at th

ey relate

to conditions eith er m

ore or less specific than R D

. D

issonance is a co n

cep t w

idely u sed

in individual psychology.

In F

estin g

er's form ulation of cognitive dissonance theory, the term

refers to inconsistency b

etw een

tw o cognitive elem

ents or clus- ters of elem

ents. C ognitive elem

en ts, "th

e things a person know s

about him self, ab

o u

t his behavior, an d

about his surroundings," are dissonant if "th

e obverse of one elem en

t w ould follow

from

the other." 58 F o

r exam ple, a citizen w

ho b eliev

ed th

at his govern- m

en t w

ould b eg

in a w

ar only if attacked an d

th en

learn ed

through new

s m ed

ia th at it h

ad initiated a w

ar w ithout provocation is said

to experience dissonance. T h

e assum ption is th

at p eo

p le sensing

dissonance are

m otivated to red

u ce or elim

inate it, w hich th

can do b y

changing th eir behavior or beliefs, b

y changing th

e corresponding situation, or by seeking n

ew inform

ation to red u

ce dissonance

w hile avoiding inform

ation that w o

u ld

increase dis- sonance.59

D ep

en d

in g

on th e m

agnitude of dissonance, i.e. th e

im portance or value of th

e dissonant elem en

ts to him , th

e citizen m

ay change his view s about th

e governm ent, attem

p t to change th

e personnel or policies of th

e governm ent through political action,

or, m ost likely in

this instance, d en

y th

e validity of the evidence that th

e w ar w

as b eg

u n

w ithout provocation an

d b

e receptive to any ev

id en

ce of provocation, how ever flim

sy. M

any hypotheses have b

een proposed an

d considerable em

pirical research done on effects of dissonance in

decision-m aking, com

pliance, receptivity to inform

ation, social su p

p o

rt for m ass p

h en

o m

en a, an

d the in-

fluence process in sm

all groups. 60 T

h e

dissonance an

d R

concepts n eith

er com prise nor sub-

sum e o

n e an

o th

er b u

t overlap. R D

is p erceiv

ed w

ith reference to individuals' w

elfare, pow er, an

d interpersonal value expectations;

dissonance can obtain am ong any set of cognitive elem

ents, not only those

that relate

to v

alu ed

goods an

d conditions

of life. M

oreover only sorne perceptions of deprivation entail dissonance, in

its original sen se of contradiction am

ong cognitive elem ents.

58 L eon F

estinger, A

T heory o

f C ognitive D

issonance (S tanford: S

tanford U ni-

versity P ress, 1957), quotations from

4, 13. T h

e perception of contradiction can arise on logical, experiential, cultural, o

r other grounds, according to F estinger.

59 F estinger, 18-24.

6° F estinger, passim

; Jack W . B

rehm and A

rthur R . C

ohen, E xplorations in C

ogni- tive D

issonance (N ew

Y ork: W

iley, 1962).

\1 11 \i :¡¡ '1 \¡ t¡

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

M ost black A

m ericans know

very w ell th

at th eir expectations of

econom ic an

d social equality w

ill b e only grudgingly an

d gradually

satisfied, if at all; th e failure of the political system

to take m assive

rem edial action is "d

isso n

an t" only for those N

egroes w ho at o

n e

tim e thought th

at it w ould. F

o r the great m

ajority th e lack of ac-

tion m erely confirm

s prior cognitions of the system an

d intensifies

discontent. T h

e dissonance co n

cep t an

d hypotheses seem

directly applicable to only o

n e particular aspect of the processes b

y w

h ich

e p ercep

tio n

of R D

develops: w h

en an individual first perceives

inadequacies in value opportunities h

e h ad

thought w ere appro-

priate an d

sufficient for attainm ent of his value expectations, h

e can b

e said to éxperience dissonance. T h

e onset of R D

through increasing value expectations, or the existence of a discrepancy b

etw een

expectations an d

capabilities p er se, does n

o t itself con-

stitute nór as

F estin

g er p

o in

ted . o

u t does

dissonance ex ist·w

h en

ev er an individual encounters res-tstance or

frustration in trying to achieve an objective. 61

A nom

ie, in th

e sense D u

rk h

eim u

sed it in

Suicide, is a situation ...

in w

hich eith er en

d s (value expectations) outstrip m

en 's m

eans, or ends rem

ain constant w hile m

eans are severely restricted, an d

corresponds quite closely to th

e R D

concept. T h

e m ore general-

ized sense that D u

rk h

eim gave the term

in T

he D ivisíon o

f L abor

in Society, one w h

ich M

erton popularized in his essay o n

"S ocial

S tructure an

d A

nom ie," is th

at anom ie is a b

reak d

o w

n of social

standards governing social behavior, or norm lessness. 1t is specif-

ically a sociological concept: "th e degree of anom

ie in a social

system is in

d icated

b y

th e extent to w

h ich

there is a lack of con- sensus on norm

s ju d

g ed

to b e legitim

ate, w ith its atten

d an

t uncer- tainty and insecurity in

social relations." 62 M anifestations of nolm

- lessness

w ithin

individuals are

characterized as

anom ia.

H ose,

sum m

arizing the

literature, identifies

three kinds

of anom

ie: w

eakness of norm s p

er se, th e existence of several strong b

u t con-

flicting norm s, an

d ignorance of norm

s. A ll three situations lead

to the pervasive sen

se of uncertainty to w hich is attributed m

u ch

deviant behavior, in

clu d

in g

crim inality, suicide an

d drug addic-

tion, an d

gang behavior. M erton originally suggested th

at anom ie

co u

ld lead

to w id

esp read

d ev

ian t behavior an

d th

e establishm ent

of alternative norm s, w

h ich

constitutes "rebellion." "W h

en rebel-

61 F estinger, 278.

62 R obert K. M

erton, "S ocial S

tructure and A nom

ie: C ontinuities," Social T

heory and Social Structure, rev. ed. (N

ew Y

ork: T h

e F ree P

ress, 1957), quotation from

266-267. T his discussion of the anom

ie concept m akes substantial use of G

ordon R

ose "A

nom ie and D

eviation," 29-45. A m

ore com prehensíve sum

m ation of w

ork use of the concept is

M arshall B

. C

línard, ed., A nom

ie and D eviant B

e- havior: A

D iscussion and C

ritique (N ew

Y ork: T

h e F

ree P ress, 1964).

4 2

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

lion becom es en

d em

ic in a substantial p

art of th e society, it pro-

vides a potential for revolution, w h

ich reshapes b

o th

th e norm

a- tive an

d th

e social structure." T h

ere seem to h

a ve b e en

no sub- stantial later attem

pts to relate ahom ie to th

e occurrence of collec- tive violence o

th er th

an gang behavior, how

ever. 63 A

nom ie can b

e related to th e R

D concept, as defined here, in

o w ays. If group norrns are w

eak or in conflict about how

m em

- bers can satisfy value expectations, value opportunities are thereby lim

ited. T his is particularly th

e case w ith respect to personal an

societal opportunities;

the less

certain p eo

p le

are about w

hat w

ays of acting are appropriate for attaining th

eir goals, i.e. the greater th

eir anom ia, the low

er th eir value capabilities are likely

to b e an

d h

en ce th

e greater is R D

. It sh o

u ld

b e n

o ted

that m en

can experience norm

lessness or norm conflict in

any social role an d

outside social roles, for exam

ple as subordinates in an authority

relationship or as passengers

on a jet flight. T

h u

s anornie con- stitutes or increases R

D only w

h en

it relates to norrns of value- m

aintaining or vahie-enhancing activities. It also can b

e argued, partly on th e basis of cognitive dissonance

theory, th at sets of internally consistent norrns are intrinsically

valued an d

th at th

e breakdow n of system

s of norm s therefore con-

stitutes R D

w ith

resp ect to "co

h eren

ce" values. T h

e argum ent is

not th at everyone w

ho suffers from anornia is therefore deprived;

it is th at R

D is ex

p erien

ced b

y those persons w

ho at one tim e ac-

cep ted

an internally consistent set of norrns as valid guides to

action b u

t h a ve su

b seq

u en

tly felt those norm

s to b e seriously chal-

lenged, w ithout b

ein g

replaced by another internally consistent set o

f norm s. D

eprivation in this instance results from

value loss, i.e. a declining value position w

ith resp

ect to the ideational co- h

eren ce category of interpersonal values. In

an anom ic society,

how ever, there are likely to b

e rnany p eo

p le w

ho have n ev

er h eld

one u

n q

u estio

n ed

, consistent set of nonns. N ever having h

ad a

consistent set of norrns, th ey

are less likely to b e discontented over

its lack than those w ho experience a threat to or loss of strongly

h eld

norm s.

T h

e m ost p

o ten

t effect of anom ie o

n R

D probably is its im

pact on value

opportunities. W

h eth

er norm

ative systerns

are intrin- sically

v alu

ed in

the · sense th at econornic goods, security, an

63 M erton, 191. O

ne application to political violence is E lw

in H . P

ow ell, "R

eform ,

R evolution, and R

eaction as A daptations to A

nom ie," R

eview o

f M exican Sociology,

X X

V (1963), 331-355. D

avid C . S

chw artz has developed a process m

odel of revolu- tionary behavior w

hich uses the related concept of alienation and specifies the círcum

stances in w hich política! alienation occurs, in "A

T heory of R

evolutionary B

ehavior," in Jam es C

. D avies, ed., W

hen M en R

evolt and W h

y (N ew

Y ork: T

he F

ree P ress, 1970).

4 3

l t

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

status are valued is an em pirical question m

ost directly an sw

ered

by ascertaining the extent to w hich threats to norm

system s an

g er

people. G enerally, the anom

ie and anom ia concepts are related

to R D

in a w ay com

parable to dissonance: they overlap R D

, b u

t they cannot b

e su b

su m

ed by it nor do th

ey incorporate all or m

ost aspects of it.

"C onflict" in

its collective sense is som etim

es defined as a con- dition, som

etim es as a process, an

d som

etim es as an event. G

altung defines it as a condition: "A

n action-system is said to be in con-

flict if the system has tw

o or m ore incom

patible goal-states." 64 C

oser initially defines it as a process, "a struggle over values an d

claim

s to scarce status, p o

w er an

d resources in

w hich the aim

s of the opponents are to neutralize, in

ju re or elM

ninate th eir rivals." 65

In conventional usage conflict

an event, a violent or nonviolent clash

tw o groups. B

y· eith er of th

e first tw o

conflict resem bles th

e R D

co n

cep t m

ore closely than eith er dis-

sonance or anom ie. 66 O

n e difference is that R

D refers both to in-

dividual states of m ind an

d th

eir collective w

hereas social conflict is

generally treated as a property o f collectivities

w ithout reference to its

m anifestations in

th e m

inds of th e in-

dividuals involved. G altung identifies a m

ore consequential dif- ference:

C onflict sh

o u

ld . . . b

e distinguished from frustration, w

hich is th

e m ore general case w

h ere goals are not achieved (needs

are not satisfied, gratification n o

t obtained, values not fulfilled, etc.) for sorne

reason. A

very sim ple case is

that of scarcity. . . . A

nother sim ple case is

w h

en som

ething is· blocking th e

access to

the source

o f gratification .

. . . B

ut th

e m

ost im

- portant special case .

. . is

th e case o

f conflict w here efforts

by o n

eself or others to obtain sorne value can b e seen

as th e

source of frustration. 6

C onflict defined as a condition is essentially a special case of R

in w

hich the so urce of the discrepancy b etw

een val u e expectations

an d

capabilities is another group com peting for th

e sam e values.

C onflict defined as

a process

refers to

the interaction b etw

een

groups in th eir respective attem

pts to alleviate R D

. 64 Johan G

altung, "Institutionalized C onH

ict R esolution: A

T heoretical P

aradigm ,"

]ournal o f P

eace R esearch, N

o. 4, 1965, 348. •• C

oser, T he F

unctions o f Social C

onfiict, 8. 6

6 C

onH ict al so has a psychological usage not exam

ined here, nam ely the presence

in an individual of tw o (or m

ore) com peting and incom

patible m otives. F

or a re- view

of this concept and the literature see Y ates, esp. chap. 5.

67 G altung, "Institutionalized C

onflict R esolution," 349.

4 4

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

T h

e conflict concept is less appropriate than R D

for the analysis of political violence for severa! reasons. O

n e is sim

ply that in its

connotations o f process or class. o

f events it includes by definition sorne of the variables th

at this analysis propases to explain. 1 hope to account for th

e form s and extent of violent política! conflict by

proposing sorne of th eir general determ

inants, not to "explain" them

b y

defining th em

as conflict. M oreover, conflict defined as

a condition in w

hich group X has w

hat group Y w

ants refers to a particular k

in d

of R D

, b u

t b y

no m eans exhausts the R

D concept.

R D

refers to any collectively felt discrepancy b etw

een a sought

an d

an attainable value position, w

h eth

er or not sorne other group has th

e value sought an d

w h

eth er or not group Y

tries to seize it from

group X . T

h ere are psychological grounds, suggested in the

p reced

in g

section, for expecting collective violence to result from

any R D

that is of w ide scope an

d intensity. It also seem

s ev id

en t

that m an

y acts of political violence, revolutionary m

ovem ents in

particular, do n

o t involve a struggle for values so m

uch as a d em

an d

that system

s b e resh

ap ed

so th at they can create n

ew values. In

this connection, one difficulty that arises if political violence is treated as a category o

f conflict is that política! violence is th ereb

assum ed to entail a struggle for scarce values, an assum

ption that forecloses exam

ination of o th

er causal factors. O

n e last lim

itation o f conflict theory for o

u r purposes is th

e distinction com

m only m

ade b y

conflict theorists b etw

een w

h at is

called "realistic" an d

"nonrealistic" conflict (C oser), or "rational"

an d

"nonrational" conflict (S chelling), or "destructive behavior"

and "conflict b eh

av io

r" (G altung). T

h e essence o

f the distinction is

b etw

een

actions instrum

ental in securing the values

sought and actions destructive for th

eir ow n sake. T

h e analytic usefulness

of th e distinction is

n o

t in question; w hat ís questionable is at-

tem pting to account for política! violence using theoretical ap-

proaches that assum e th

at only the instrum ental m

anifestations of violence are relevant or subject to analysis. C

o ser an

d G

altung, am

ong o th

er conflict theorists, recognize th at b

o th

elem ents are

p resen

t in

m ost

conflict. C

o ser

criticizes others

for failure

to realize th

at "conflict m ay be m

otivated b y

tw o distinct yet inter-

m in

g led

facto rs-

a realistic conflict situation an d

th e affective in-

vestm ent

it . . . . "

G altung

sim ilarly

m akes

the theoretical

point that underlies this en tire discussion: "conflict behavior tends

to becom e destructive behavior (because of th

e frustration-aggres- sion cycle) an

d destructive b

eh av

io r tends to b

e self-reinforcing." 68 D

esp ite this recognition, m

ost o f the concepts an

d hypotheses

•• C oser, 59; G

altung, 349. A lso see M

ack and S nyder, 219, 222-223.

4 5

i[ ¡:( ii ![l 'f¡ ¡' ,f 1'1 ,1 1 J ,, ,,

j··

l !-

: .. ¡

¡\· ¡j ,.¡ 1' ;¡· 1 ·!· ,1::

W H

Y M

E N

H E

B E

of conflict theory

are co

n cern

w ith

th e

instrum entalities

of strife. T

his analysis gives equal w eight to its nonrational origins

an d

m anifestations.

P a tte

rn s o

f R elativ

e D ep

riv atio

In static term

s, R D

is a discrepancy b etw

een value expectations

an d

value capabilities, its intensity an

d scope

d eterm

in ab

le in

any accessible population b y

th e use of survey an

d o

th er tech-

niques. D ynam

ic analysis requires conceptual tools th at take into

account patterns of changes in value expectations an

d value capa-

bilities over tim e. O

n e can b

eg in

w ith th

e assum ption that, be-

cause R D

is a psychically uncom fortable condition, m

en ten

d over

th e long ru

to adjust

th eir value

expectations to

th eir

value capabilities.

S ocietal conditions

in w h

ich ·sought an

d attainable

value positions are in approxiU

:ate eq u

ilib riu

m consequently can

b e reg

ard ed

as "norm

al," h o

w ev

er uncom m

on th ey

m ay b

e in

the contem porary w

orld, an d

provide a base-line from w

hich to evaluate patterns of change. T

h ree distinct patterns of disequi-

librium can

b e

specified: decrem ental deprivation, in

w hich a

group' s value expectations rem

ain relatively constant b u

t value capabilities

p erceiv

ed to

decline; aspirational

deprivation, in

w h

ich capabilities rem

ain relatively static w hile expectations

increase or

intensify; 69 an

progressive deprivation,

in w

hich there is substantial an

d sim

ultaneous increase in expectations an

decrease in

capabilities. A ll th

ree patterns have b een

cited as

causal or predisposing factors for political violence.

D E

C R

E M

E N

T A

L D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

T h

e m o

d el sh

o w

n graphically in

figure 1 represents settings

in w

hich group consensus about justifiable value

positions has varied little

tim e, b

u t in

w h

ich the average attainable value

position or P<!tential is p erceiv

ed to decline substantially. M

in th

ese circum stances are an

g ered

over th e loss of w

h at th

ey once

h ad

or thought they co u

ld have; th

ey experience R

D by reference

to th eir o

w n

p ast condition. T

h e value position of an entire so-

ciety m ay fall b

ecau se of declining production of m

aterial goods, declining capacities of th

e political elite to provide order or re- solve crises, im

position of foreign rule, or loss of faith in th

e so- ciety' s

in te grating

structure of beliefs

an d

attendant n

o n

n s

of action. V

alue capabilities also m ay fall

one or m ore seg-

m ents o

f society b ecau

se its m em

bers lose out in absolute tenns

in conflict w

ith o th

er groups over scarce values.

E xam

ples in-

69 T hese patterns are labeled and described brieH

y by M orrison, 5.

4 6

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

I'IV A

T IO

N A

N D

T H

E IM

P E

T U

S T

O V

IO L

E N

C E

high

C ollective

val u e position low

value expectations ----------------------------------------

value capabilities

F igure l. D

ecrem enta! deprivation.

elude of progressive taxation on the w

ealthy an d

of taxation on th

e poor; th e loss of political influence by

an d

oppositional groups

n ew

b arred

from political ac-

tlvlty; an

d the

decline in status

an d

influence felt by m iddle-

class groups

the status

of w

orking-class groups

increases. T

h e val_ue p

o sltw

n or potential of a particular group also m

ay seem

to d

eclm e

not because of any

dim inution

or redistribution of total values available in

a society b u

t because of the declinin or

appropriateness o

f opportunities,

for exam

ple th

! shnnk1_ng

of em

p lo

y m

en t

opportunities for

unskilled labor

h1ghly industrialized societies an

d th

e lack o f stable

c?m m

unal relationships o p

en to

m igrants

new ly arrived in

the clty

rural villages. T h

e system ic sources of declining value

capab1hbes are exam ined in

m ore detail in chapter 5.

n u

m b

er o f theorists have attributed political violence w

holly or m

art to decrem enta! deprivation. T

h e revolutions that A

ris- h

eld to b

e characteristic of dem ocracies an

d oligarchies w

ere sa1d to

result partly from

deprivations of this type. "T h

e cause of revolutions in

D em

ocracies is th e intem

perate conduct of the

dem agogues

w ho force

th e propertied class

to com

bine partly b

y instituting m

alicious prosecutions against individuals ... ?Y inciting th

e m asses against th

em as a body," w

hereas 111 ohgarch1es o

n e of th

e tw o general causes of revolution is seen

as the oppression of th

e m asses b

y th

e oligarchs. 70 In dem

ocracies the relatively high, stable value position of th

e oligarchs is threat-

do 70 A

ristoH e, The

B ook v, chaps. v and V

l. Q uotation from

J. E . C

. W ell-

n, trans., The

P olttics o

f A ristotle

(N ew

Y ork:

M acm

illan, 1883, 1905), 355.

4 7

f : " d: \i

¡ --------------------------------·

,l '

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

en ed

, in oligarchies

it is the

low , stable value

position of th e

m asses that suffers interference. In

1925 S orokin advanced a gen-

eral thesis about the significance of "repression" in th

e genesis of revolution that influenced a n

u m

b er of later w

riters. T h

e im m

e- diate cause of revolution, h

e w rote, "is alw

ays the grow th of 're-

pression' of th e m

ain instincts of the m ajority of society, and th

e im

possibility of obtaining for those instincts the necessary m íni-

m um

of satisfaction." If th e desire for food of a substantial n

u m

b er

is "rep

ressed " b

y fam

ine, riots

result. If the "reflexes

of indi- vidual self-preservation" are "rep

ressed " by arbitrary executions,

total w ar, or terror, th

e result is the sam e. O

th er rep

ressed in-

stincts w

hich dispose roen tow ard violence are said to include

collective self-preservation,

w ant

of housing, th

e "instincts

of ow

nership" an d

of an

d so forth.

71 T h

e M arxian

view in its original dispensation .is sim

ilar. M arx an

d .E

ngels ar- g

u ed

the inevitable grow th of profound dissatisfactions in

th e pro-

letariat as a co n

seq u

en ce of absolute deprivations or oppressions:

th e destruction· of th

e w

orker' s pride through his subjection to

th e m

achine and the

m arket;

econom ic deprivation b

ecau se of

m inim

al w

ages an d

job insecurity, th e latter a

co n

seq u

en ce o

f crises

in th

e econom ic system

; an

d repressive m

easures of th e

bourgeois state. D

ecrem enta! deprivation is probably m

ost com m

on in "tradi-

tional" societies

an d

in traditional segm

ents of transitional so- cieties. N

atural disasters in traditional societies often gave rise to

collective violence,

as N

orm an

C o

h n

observes in

his study of violent m

illenarianism in

m edieval E

urope:

A gain an

d again o

n e llnds that a particular outbreak of revo-

lutionary chiliasm took place against a background of disaster:

th e plagues that p

relu d

ed th

e F irst C

rusade an d

the flagellant m

ovem ents

of 1260,

1348-1349, 1391,

an d

1400 .

. . . T

h e

greatest w ave of chiliastic excitem

ent, one w hich sw

ep t through

the w hole of society, w

as precipitated b

y th

e m ost universal

natural disaster of th e M

id d

le A ges, th

e B lack D

eath . . . . 72

H obsbaw

m says

that social bariditry w as m

ost pervasive in th e

precapitalist peasant societies of S outhern E

u ro

p e "w

h en

th eir

traditional equilibrium

[ w as] upset; during an

d after periods of

- -

abnorm al hardship, such as fam

ines an d

w ars, or at th

e m om

ents

n P itirim

A . Sorokin, The Sociology ofR

evolution (P hiladelphia: J. B

. L ippincott,

1925), 367-369. 12 N

orm an R

. C . C

ohn, T he P

ursuit o f the M

illenium , 2nd edn. rev. (N

ew Y

ork: H

arper, 1957, 1961), 315. A lso see S

m elser, chap. 6.

4 8

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

w h

en the jaw

s of the dynam ic m

o d

ern w

orld seized th

ese static com

m unities in

o rd

er to destroy an d

transform th

em ." 73 S

uch ir- resistible

events inflicted decrem

enta! deprivations on an

d led

to banditry b y

peasants w ho h

ad no effective m

ethods of social agitation,

i.e., no

political value

opportunities. T

h e im

position of alien

authority on non-W

estern p

eo p

les h

ad sim

ilar effects. C

olonialism to varying degrees disrupted interpersonal relation-

ships an

u n

d erm

in ed

tribal

an d

th er

traditional authority.

Interpersonal an

p o

w er

deprivations w

ere inflicted on

m any

new ly co

n q

u ered

p eo

p le at the sam

e tim e that traditional value

opportunities, especially political

ones, w

ere disrupted.

T h

ese conditions

often g

en erated

violent traditionalist

resistance th at

su b

seq u

en tly

w as transform

ed into nationalist rebellion. 74

D ecrem

enta! deprivation m ay b

e less com m

on th an

o th

er form s

of R D

in societies undergoing socioeconom

ic transform ation

b u

t it is

n o

t uncom m

on an d

it can have virulent effects. T h

e hum

an an d

m aterial sacrifices of th

e R ussian p

eo p

le during th e

first W orld W

ar p ro

v id

ed th

e basic potential for th e first R

ussian R

evolution; th e refusal o

f th e K

erensky regim e to term

ínate R us-

sia's involvem ent in

th e w

ar led directly to th

e B olshevik seizure

of p o

w er an

d indirectly to th

e civil w ar th

at follow ed. A

lm ost all

analyses of th e post-w

ar fascist m ovem

ents em phasize th

e abso- lute

deprivations th

at m

otivated m

ost of th eir adherents.

In a

com parative stu

d y

o f fascist m

ovem ents in

riine countries C arsten

concludes that

certain social

groups resp

o n

d ed

u ch

ore strongly to

th e

F ascist appeal

than others. T his

is particularly tru e of those

w ho

w ere

uprooted an

th reaten

b y

social an

econom ic

change, w hose position in society w

as b ein

g u

n d

erm in

ed , w

ho h

lost th

eir traditional

place, an

w ere frightened

o f the

future. T h

ese w ere above all [segm

ents of] th e lo

w er m

id d

le classes .

. . . P

erhaps ev en

m ore im

portant in th

e early stages w

ere th e form

er officers and non-com m

issioned officers of the first w

orld w ar for w

hom no jobs w

ere w aiting, w

ho h ad

got accustom

ed to th e use of violence, an

d felt them

selves d ep

riv ed

of th

eir "leg itim

ate" rew ards. 75

73 E . J. H

obsbaw m

, Social B andits and P

rim itive R

ebels: Studies inA rchaic F

orm s

o f Social M

ovem ent in the 19th and20th C

enturies (G lencoe: T

he F ree P

ress 1959) 23-24.

• •

74 S ee, for exam

ple, W illiam

K ornhauser, "R

ebellion and P olitical D

evelopm ent,"

in H arry E

ckstein, ed., Intem al W

ar: P

roblem s and A

pproaches (N ew

Y ork: T

he F

ree P ress, 1964), 145.

75 F . L. C

arsten, T he R

ise o f F

ascism (B

erkeley: U niversity of C

alifornia P ress,

1967}, 232.

4 9

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

C antril's social psychological analysis of th

e roots of N azism

is sim

ilar. N azism

w as capable of succeeding as a m

o v

em en

t b ecau

se "o

ld norm

s, o ld

cultural standards, w ere no longer able to pro-

vide th e fram

ew ork necessary for a

adjustm ent of th

e individuals w

ho com posed the culture." D

ecrem enta! deprivation

w as

intense for a variety of groups on m any values; there w

as econom

ic distress, m any people h

ad suffered status reductions,

an d

m ost felt a profound sense of personal insecurity b

ecau se of

th e

disintegration of b

o th

social

structures an

d norm

ative sys- tem

s.76 A

ny absolute decline in th

e value position or value potential of a social group constitutes decrem

enta! deprivation, an d

m any

additional cases of political violence attributable to this pattern of R

D could b

e cited. S orne othyrs are exam

ined in chapter 5. D

e- spite the considerable em

phasis given in contem

porary social anal- ysis to "revolutions of rising expectations," exam

ined below , over

the long run of h u

m an

history decrem enta! R

D has probably b

een

a m ore com

m on source of collective violence th'an auy other p

attern

of R D

. A nd o

n e can speculate th

at decrem enta! R

D of a given de-

gree probably

instigates roen to

greater in ten

sities o_f violence th

an an eq

u iv

alen t level of aspirational R

D . M

en are h

k ely

to b e

m ore intensely an

g ered

w h

en they lose w

hat th ey

h a ve than w

h en

ey lose h

o p

e of attaining w hat th

ey do n

o t yet have.

A S

P IR

A T

IO N

A L

D E

P R

IV A

T IO

T h

e aspirational R D

m odel, sk

etch ed

in figure 2, is character-

ized b

y an increase in

m en

's value expectations w ithout a con-

com itant change in

value position or potential. T hose w

ho experi- en

ce aspirational R D

do n o

t anticípate or experience significant loss of w

hat th ey

have; th ey

are an g

ered b

ecau se th

ey feel th

have no m eans for attaining n

ew or intensified expectations. A

n "in

crease" in value expectations m

ay reflect dem ands for a greater

am ount of a value already h

eld in sorne degree, for exam

ple for m

ore m aterial goods an

d a greater degree of political order an

justice. It m ay b

e a d em

an d

for n ew

values n ev

er previously h eld

, such as political participation for i!O

lonial peoples an d

personal equality for m

em bers of lo

w er cla.ss an

d caste groups. T

h ird

, it

'" H adley C

antril, The P sychology o

f Social M ovem

ents (N ew

Y ork:

1941), 228-269, quotation from

266. A

lso see F rederick L

. S chum

an, T he Na;ra D

Jctator- ship: A

Study in Social P athology and the P

olitics o f F

ascism (N

ew Y

ork: K n_opf,

1935). Individual docum entation of th

e nature and severity of these frustrations is provided by the autobiographical essays of N

azi P arty m

em bers w

hich are ana- lyzed by T

heodore A bel, The N

azi M ovem

ent: W hy H

itler C arne to P

ow er (N

Y ork: A

therton P ress, 1938, 1966).

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

high

C ollective

value position

/ /

value ex¡;ectations /

/ .,..--

/ /

_ ..... ...- value capabilities

low

T im

e -+

F igure 2. A

spirational deprivation.

m ay rep

resen t intensification of th

e com m

itm ent to (salience of)

a value position that earlier w as w

eakly sought, for exam ple in-

tensifying dem ands for w

elfare goods am ong those w

ho experience breakdow

n of com m

unal life during th e early stages of m

oderni- zation, an

d intensified dem

ands for access to political elite posi- tions

am ong th

e upw

ardly m obile

bourgeoisie of seventeenth-

an d

eighteenth-century E urope. D

egrees an d

saliences of value expectations q

u ite often increase sim

ultaneously, b u

t no neces- sary relation holds b

etw een

th e tw

o. F o

r exam ple, th

e contem po-

rary dem

ands of black A m

ericans for social equality com

pared w

ith d em

an d

s m ade in

th e 1940s appear to reflect an increase in

the salience of status values am

ong N egroes, a shift from

faintly h

eld aspirations for eq

u ality

to an intensely h eld

b elief that equal-

ity is

d eserv

ed now

, rather than an increase in

th e degree of

equality sought. M

any sources of increasing value expectations are identified in

studies of R

an d

of political instability. F

o r sorne traditional

peoples m ere exposure to, or know

ledge of, a b etter m

aterial w ay

of life is assum

ed to raise expectations. In m

edieval an d

early R

enaissance E u

ro p

e th e grow

th of industrial an d

com m

ercial cen- ters dem

onstrated n ew

possibilities b ey

o n

d any that life h

ad to

.offer th e peasant. T

h e n

ew w

ays attracted the surplus population in particular, b

u t also those w

ho w ere in

sorne w ay dissatisfied

w ith

m anor life.

"A s

social an

d econom

ic horizons

expanded, hardship an

d poverty an

d d

ep en

d en

ce ceased to appear th

e in- eluctable fate of com

m on folk." 77 A

special case of th e dem

onstra- 77 C

ohn, 27-28. A lso see N

eil J. S m

elser, Social C hange in the Industrial R

evolu- tion (C

hicago: U niversity of C

hicago P ress, 1959).

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

tion effect is

"relative deprivation" in its narrow

sense, th at is,

setting one' s value expectations by reference to th e h

ig h

er value position of sorne o

th er individual or group. In

particular, expec- tation levels are often accelerated b

y the dem

onstration effect of other groups

th at are

im proving w

hile one's ow n group is not.

B rogan observed that the n

ew w

ays an d

n ew

w ealth of the Indus-

trial R

evolution im

p elled

any intellectuals

to revolutionary

fervor. M

en like F ried

rich E

ngles "w ere struck b

y the paradox

that th e m

eans of w ealth w

ere vastly increasing an d

that the b en

e- fits

of that w ealth seem

ed to b

e m ore and m

ore narrow ly be-

stow ed." 78 D

iscrepancy b etw

een an individual's or group's rela-

tive share

of w elfare, .PO

W er

an d

interpersonal

also is

specifically related to political violence b y

a n u

m b

er of theorists, am

ong th em

A ristotle, w

ho w rote th

at the source of disposition to revolution

is the

aspiration after equality w hich provokes

the com m

ons to sedition w

h en

th ey

suppose th at th

ey have a

sm all share

. . . although they are th

e equals of the privileged F ew

, an d

it is the aspiration after inequality or in

o th

er w ords after su-

periority w h

ich provokes th

e O ligarchs to sedition, w

h en

th ey

agine th at d

esp ite th

eir inequality th eir share is n

o t greater

than that of others b u

t is equal or ev en

sm aller. 79

T h

ese and o th

er conditions that increase expectation levels be- yond the capacities of m

en to satisfy them

, an d

h en

ce dispose m

en to collective violence, are exam

ined m ore closely in chapter

5. S orne com

parable effects of n ew

beliefs an d

ideologies are con- sidered there an

d in

ch ap

ter 7.

P R

O G

R E

S S

IV E

D E

P R

IV A

T IO

T h

e third pattern o f R

D , sk

etch ed

in figure 3, is a generalized

version of a m odel proposed by D

avies, w ho refers to it as the

"J-curve" hypothesis: "revolutions are m ost likely to occur w

hen a prolonged period of objective econom

ic an d

social developm ent

is follow ed b

y a short p

erio d

of sharp reversal." 80 It can b e re-

garded as a special case of aspirational R

D , one in

w hich long-

ron, m ore-or-less-steady im

p ro

v em

en t in

peoples' value position generates

expectations ab

o u

t continued im

provem ent. If value

capabilities stabilize or decline after such a period of im prove-

. ·

78 D enis W

. B rogan, T

he P rice o

fR evo

lu tio

n (L

ondon: H am

ish H am

ilton, 1951), 79 T

he P

olitics, W elldon trans., 343-344. F

or a restatem ent of the

position see F red

K ort, "T

h e Q

uantification of A ristotle's T

heory of H evolutí•on,'

A m

erican P olitical Science R

eview , L

X V

I (June 1952), 487. 80 D

avies, "T ow

ard a T heory of R

evolution," 6.

high

C ollective

value position

low

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

/ /

value exp ectation

s /,.,...,..

/ /

------ /

/ value capabilities

/ /

T im

e -+

·F igure 3. P

rogressive deprivation.

m ent, progressive R

D is th

e resu lt S

uch a pattern is m ost com

m on

in societies

undergoing sim ultaneous

ideological an

d system

ic change, E

conom ic depression in

a grow ing econom

y can have this effect. S

o can the articulation o f an ideology of m

odernization in a society that has

structural inflexibilities .that p rev

en t expansion

of value o u

tp u

t b ey

o n

d a certain point. T

h e m

odel also can b e

used to

su b

su m

e sorne

"social ch an

g e" theories

of revolution w

hich in th

eir general form postulate that political violence is

co n

seq u

en ce

o f decreasing responsiveness

of social structures

beliefs, norm s, or all three to objective change.

' " D

avies _em phasizes that th

e revolutionary state o f m

in d

requires the

even habitual b

u t dynam

ic expectation of greater opportum

ty to

satisfy basic n eed

s," by

w hich

h e

includes all

types o f values, physical, social, an

d political. In

addition, w hat

is n eed

is a persistent, u

n relen

tin g

threat to th

e satisfaction of these needs: n

o t a th

reat w hich actually returns p

eo p

le to a state o f

sh eer survival b

u t w

hich puts th em

in th

e m ental state w

here they b

eliev e th

ey w

ill n o

t b e able to satisfy one or m

ore basic n

eed s .

. . . T

h e crucial factor is the vague or specific fear that

ground gained over a long p erio

d o

f tim e w

ill b e quickly los t.

political system is p

ercep tu

ally related

to th ese fears; th

generated "w h

en th

e existing g o

v ern

m en

t suppresses or is for su

p p

ressin g

such opportunity." 81 In su

p p

o rt of the the-

1 • 'f ':1 '

' '

'1¡ 1: .¡J

W H

Y M

E N

H .E

B E

sis D

avies identifies a }-curve p

attern of progress follow

ed b y

decline in case studies of the preconditions of a n

u m

b er

of revolutions an d

rebellions, including the F ren

ch , R

ussian, an d

azi R evolution

th e A

m erican C

ivil W ar, an

d th

e E gyptian R

evo- lution of 1952. F

o r exam

ple, h e show

s th at D

orr's R ebellion in

hode Islan d

in 1842 occurred after a forty-year p

erio d

of im prov-

ing econom ic conditions

an d

expanding political nom

ic depression in 1835-40 an

d the rejection by an ohgarch1c

state governm ent of d

em an

d s for further extension of suffrage

to th

e drafting

of a P

eo p

le' s C

onstitution, an attem pt to se1ze

state buildings, an d

sporadic violence. T h

ere also is ev id

en ce _of a

progressi,),¡e deprivation p attern

in the econom

ic statu_s of N

egroes relat_ive to w hites in

th e tw

o decades th

e reb

ellio n

" of the 1960s. T h

e incom e of N

egroes relatlve to w httes

of com parable education

rapidly tow ards equality be-

tw een

1940 an d

the early 1950s b u

t th en

b eg

an to decline, so that

by 1960 half the relative gains of th e earlier period

In this study's term

inology, b o

th cases w

ere b

y n

s- ing value expectations, set in

m otion b

?f im

proving value positions. D

im inishing capabilthes, ev

td e':t m

politicians' reluctance to ex

ten d

political rights and_ irrem

ediable econom

ic decline, p ro

v id

ed th

e background condttions necessary for th

e outbreak of violence. L

e V ine's explanation of m

ob violence by A frican colonial pea-

pies agai'ust th eir rulers

resem bles th

e }-curve S

u ch

turm

oil is said to b e a co

n seq

u en

ce of psychologtcal confliC t gen-

erated w

h en

colonial

officials encouraged expectations

of rule by th

eir stated policies an

d practices, b

u t th

en acco

m p

am ed

or follow

ed those policies w ith others w

hich, A fricans thought,

interfered th

e attaim

nent of those expectations.

L e

V ine

describes sev

en cases

th at appear to

support th e hypothesiS

. 83

T h

e }-curve hypothesis is also im

plicit in D

eu tsch

's tion

of th e

relationship b

etw een

governm

ental capabthty

an d

poli ti cal stability in

societies in th

e early an d

m _iddle stages of m

od- ernization. ln

creasin g

capabilities,

as an obJect of governm

ent policy, require increasing m

obilization of for

th e

m arket econom

y an

political life.

S uch m

obthzatw n,

•• C ase studies of th

e R ussian an

d E

gyptian R evolutions and D

orr's R ebellion

appear ibid. T h

e other studies are in clu

d ed

in Jam

es C . D

avies, "T h

e !-C u

rv e of

R ising an

d D

eclining S atisfactions as a C

ause of sorne G reat R

evolutw ns. an

d a

C o

n tain

ed R

ebellion," in H

u g

h D

avis G raham

an d

T ed

R obert G

urr, eds., V1ol_ence in A

m erica: H

istorical and C om

parative P erspectives (W

ashington, D .C

.: N atw

nal C

om m

ission o n

the C auses an

d P

revention of V iolence, 1969), 547-576.

sa R obert A

. L e V

ine, "A nti-E

uropean V iolence in

A frica: A

C om

parative A naly·

sis," ]o u

m a

l o f C

onjlict R esolution, lll (D

ecem b

er 1959), 420-429.

5 4

H .E

LA T

JV E

D E

P R

IV A

T IO

N A

N D

T H

E IM

P E

T U

S T

O V

IO LE

N C

ho":ever, is usually accom panied by rising needs an

d expectations,

w hiC

h m ust not b

e frustrated if stability is to b e preserved." T

o preserve stab

ility -that is, to m

inim ize progressive R

D an

d the

co n

seq u

en t ím

petus to

v io

lén ce-outputs

m u

st continue to in- crease. D

eu tsch

cites only tw o types of value outputs, increasing

per capita incom e an

d expanding governm

ental activity, b u

t his argum

ent is readily ex ten

d ed

to o th

er value classes.B 4

P rogressive R

D is a com

m on th

em e in m

any old and sorne n ew

theories

th at attribute

revolutionary potential

to general social

change. S im

ple versions of th ese theories em

phasize structural in- flexibility, i.e. the inability of social an

d political institutions to

adapt th eir value outputs rapidly en

o u

g h

to changing conditions. Y

oder propases, for exam ple, that change in so

ciallife is and th

at the organized group m ust an

d ordinarily does co

n stan

tl; readjust to changing situations, resulting from

inventions, discov- eries, culture contact, an

d so forth. In

sorne cases, how ever, groups

w ithin th

e society desire to preserve the old o rd

e r-

"th e traditional

institutions, th e tim

e-tried folkw ays, m

ores, conventions an

d cus-·

to m

s"- ev

en though irrelevant to p

resen t situations. T

h e en

d of

adaptation is the

b eg

in n

in g

of revolution.

85 Johnson's "social-

dysfunction" theory of the origins of political violence is of the sam

e genre, though its vocabulary has a m ore contem

porary ring. O

ne necessary condition of revolution is said to b e a disequilibrated

social system , i.e. a discrepancy b

etw een

the b elief structure of a

society an d

its division of labor, w hich m

ay result from any com

bi- nation of interna! or externa! changes in

values or technology. T

he seco n

d necessary cause is elite refusal ("intransigence") to

take action d esig

n ed

to relieve the disequilibrium

. T h

e conse- quence is a loss of authority by the elite an

d its reliance u p

o n

force to m

aintain its position. T h

e sufficient cause of revolution in such

a situation is an "accelerator o f dysfunction," any condition that

decreases the

ability of the elite to control its

arm ed

forces. 86

T h

ese an d

o th

er social change theories refer to system s that w

ere able to adapt value outputs to changing environm

ental require-

• 84 K arl D

eutsch, "T o

w ard

an Inventory o f B

asic T rends an

d P

atterns in C

om para-

ti ve an d

International P olitics," A

m erican P

olítica! Science R eview

, X

IV (M

arch 1960), 39 .

.., D ale Y

oder, "C u

rren t D

efinitions o f R

evolution," A m

erican ]ournal o f Sociol-

ogy, X X

X II (N

ovem ber 1926), 440-442. C

om parable explanations are proposed by

A . E

llw ood, T

he P sychology o

f H um

an Society: A n

Introduction to Socio- l?glcal T

heory (N ew

Y ork: A

ppleton, 1925), chap. 8; R ex H

opper, "T h

e R evolu-

hon_ary P rocess: A

F ram

e of R eference for th

e S tudy o

f R evolutionary M

ovem ents,"

F orces, X

X V

III (_M arch 1950), 270-27_1; and P

ettee, passim .

Johnson, R evolutw

nary C hange, passtm

. A n earlier an

d briefer statem

ent o f

t?e theory is his R evolution and the Social System

(S tanford: T

h e H

oover Institu- tion on W

ar, R evolution an

d P

eace, S tanford U

niversity, 1964).

5 5

W H

Y M

E N

R E

B E

m ents and to m

en 's changing value expectations u

p to sorne p

o in

t in

tim e, b

u t gradually or abruptly lost th

eir adaptive capacities. societies that have ex

p erien

ced positive social change, th

e condi- tions

described in th

ese theories fit

th e }-curve or progressive

deprivation m odel; in

static societies, they m ore closely resem

b le

th e absolute deprivation m

odel. T h

e point is that th e R

D m

odels correspond generally to m

any of the abstract theories of th e pre-

conditions of political violence.

T h

e R D

M o

d els: S

orne Q u

alificatio n

s an d

U ses

N o one of the R

D m

odels is necessarily characteristic of a par- ticular type of society, although absolute R

D seem

s m ore li.kely to

b e found in

static societies, w h

ile aspirational an d

progress1ve R D

p ear m

ost often in societies, undergoing substantial socioeco-

nom ic change. In

any given society at any given tim e, how

ever, sorne groups are likely to experience R

D o

f each type. M oreover,

sorne groups can ex p

erien ce different patterns of R

D w

ith respect to different classes of values.· F

o r exam

ple, large segm ents of th

e w

orking classes of the d efeated

E u

ro p

ean countries

W ar I sim

ultaneously ex p

erien ced

decrem enta! d

ep n

v atw

n w

lth respect to security an

d participation values, an

d progressive dep-

rivation on w elfare values. A

com plete profile of R

D in

a society requires specification of th

e extent an d

patterns o f R

.D w

ith spect to each class of values for every consequential socw

econom 1c

group. . .

O n

e operational u se of th

e R D

m odels is th

at th ey

tem

atic inferences ab o

u t the effects of changes in

vanous m diC

es of econom

ic an d

política! perform ance. Indicators of econom

ic per- form

ance an

d of governm

ental fiscal activity provide exam

ples. R

ather than resorting to

inferences about econom

ic discontent b

ased on such m

easures as p er capita incom

e in country X

coro- p

ared w

ith country Y ,

or th eir relative rates of grow

th, one .can infer it m

ore accurately from such patterns as short-term

declm es

productivity follow ing a

period of stable production m

ental R D

) and short-term changes in inflation rates, co

m m

?d ü

prices, or total productivity relative to rates in th

e m ore d1stant

past (decrem enta! or progressive R

D ). T

im e-series w

age an d

salary data for various occupational groups are available for m

any m odern

an d

sorne m odernizing societies, from

w hich w

elfare an d

in sorne

instances status R D

can b e inferred. O

n e also can search system

- atically for ev

id en

ce of conditions associated w ith rising expecta-

tions such as rates of increase in

schooling and literacy, announce-, m

en ; of program

s of reform , articulation b

y political

of idéologies of m

odernization, an d

m obilization of previously non-

5 6

¡ 1 1 ¡ i 1 ¡ i ¡ 1 r t r l.

R E

L A

T IV

E D

E P

R IV

A T

IO N

A N

D T

H E

IM P

E T

U S

T O

V IO

L E

N C

participant citizens for .purposes of política] an d

associational ac- tivity. T

o assess the effects o f governm

ental action one can exam ine

the changing

balance over

tim e

b etw

een

value-depriving and value-satisfying decisions, giving special attention to relative in- creases in

th e form

er. Interpersonal R D

of various patterns al so can be inferred from

changes over tim e in

m easures of condÍtions as di-

verse as interna! m igration, religious affiliation, changing size and

com position

of occupational groups,

an d

social origins of elite groups. P

rocedures for m aking system

atic, com parative inferences

of these kinds are not exam ined h

e re; exam ples o

f sorne o f them

are reported in o

th er p

u b

lish ed

studies. 87 r

th ree

o f R

D proposed do n

o t exhaust all the logically

valu_e expectations and value capa- bdities.

D eclm

m g

expectations m 1ght b

e found in sorne groups, for exam

ple am ong m

em bers o

f a w ell-disciplined colonial elite

w ho expect gradually to lose th

eir political authority to indigenous rulers, or am

ong m em

bers of a m illenarian religious group w

ho ex- pect the social o

rd er to deteriorate and collapse as a p

relu d

e to th e

com ing o

f a n ew

order. S om

ew hat m

ore com m

on m ay b

e a "boom

and b u

st" set o f expectations about value satisfactions, for exam

ple am

ong sorne traditional societies, u n

d er sorne totalitarian regim

es, and p

erh ap

s am ong sorne groups an

d isolated individuals in m

od- ernized societies. R

esig n

ed anticipation o

f a "tim

e o f troubles"

follow ing the death o

f a king w as as com

m on in

feudal kingdom s of

tropical A frica as it w

as in m

edieval E u

ro p

e. T hose w

hose liveli- hood d

ep en

d s on the land ten

d to develop a sim

ilar tolerance for the vagaries o

f w eather: tw

o years o f p

len ty

an d

one o f scarcity

is the w ay o

f th e seasons. T

h e B

em ba o

f S outh C

entral A frica, like

m any o

th er p

eo p

le living n ear the m

argin o f subsistence, b

u ild

their w

ay of life around a cycle of n in

e m onths o

f abundance fol- low

ed_ by a h u

n g

er season o f three m

onths. 89 B u

t in all such cycles

there IS an elem en

t of predictability, an d

if this predictability van- ishes R

D is th

e likely result. If, for exam ple, conditions in

such a 87 S e e T

ed G

urr, N ew

E rror-C

om pensated M

e asures for C om

pari ng N ations: S o m

e C

or:elat.es o

f C ivil Strife, C

enter of International S tudies (P

rinceton: P rinceton

U m

versity, R esearch M

onograph N o. 25, 1966); T

ed G

urr w ith C

harles R uttenberg

C onditio'!s o

f C _ivil V

iolence: F irst T

ests o f a C

ausal M odel, C

enter of n_ahonal

Stud1es (P nnc;;ton: P

rinceton U niversity, R

esearch M onograph N

o. 28, and T

ed .

A C

:ausal M

odel of C ivil Strife: A

C om

parative A nalysis

U sm

g N ew

Indices, A

m en

ca n

P olítica[ Science R

eview

L X

I (D ecem

ber 1968) 1104-1124.

, '

88 A m

ore c?m prehensive set of m

odels of social change, including variations on three basiC

m odels proposed here, appears in Ivo K. F

eierabend, R osdind L

. and

A . N

esvold, "S ocial C

hange and P olitical V

iolence: C ross-

N !!IO

nal P atterns,

G raham

and G urr, eds., 497-542.

S ee

R IC

hards, L and, L

abour, and D iet inN

orthern R hodesia (L

ondon: O

xford U m

versity P ress, 1939), especially chaps. 1-3.

W H

Y M

EN R

E B

E L

b d

su lt is decrem

enta! R D

; a: a'

;:v e l substantially b

ey o

n d

d ¡f va u

e post w ns s

te clical decline, any su

b seq

u en

t de- the expected o

n set o{ th

e nex th

e potential for violent protest. cline

t bet of th

e m odels it w

as suggested ru

n m

en 's value

ten d

th eir value

m en

pectations or d

eclm m

1 .

g th eir value capabilities to

collectively eith er .su

ccee. m

prove im pervious

m eet th

eir expectatw ns or, ¡f

c u

. tensely felt expecta-

1 1

er th eir expectatw

ns. or m

to e Iange,

ow "

ll " b

e m easu

red in

years, d eca es,

. h

er ev

en tu

a y

m ay

b h

tw ns,

ow ev

, . h. h are likely to b

e characterized b y

or ev en

generahons, w

. l

S orne of th

e variables that constructive

eical m odes of response to it

affect the persistence of R

h typ

If any single sen ten

ce can .

d · b

seq u

en t e

ap ers. are

su advanced in

this chapter, it is th at m

su m

m an

ze the argum ents

. . 1

s an d

quick to anger are quick to aspire

tldletqr to accept their lim

i- w

h en

those m eans prove n

m e

' tations.

5 8

3 . T

h e In

ten sity

a n

d S

eo p

e o f

R ela

tiv e D

ep riv

a tio

n .

P eo

p le foreign to our land an

d race m

ade u

p th

e governm ent; th

e m iddle class w

as ru

in ed

through th e scarcity of food an

the depreciation

o f m

oney; scoundrels

an d

parasites cheated and robbed us, an d

in an incredibly brief tim

e ru in

ed under-

takings it h ad

taken a w hole people cen-

turies to build.

P eople lacked th

e very essentials

of living .... H aving felt th

e results

of th e econom

ic collapse on m y

ow n pulse, 1 w

as only too happy to take m

y place in th

e van o f th

e m ovem

ent.

A N

azi P arty m

em b

er,1 9

3 3

T H

E IN

TEN SITY

of our anger at its onset is a function of four psycho- cultural variables. T

h e greater the discrepancy w

e see b etw

een

our expectations an d

capabilities, th e greater is our discontent.

T he greater th

e im porta.rice w

e attach to the values affected, an d

the

few er

th e

o th

er satisfactions w

e have to fall back on, th

e greater is o

u r discontent. If w

e have m any alternative w

ays of ti·y- ing to satisfy our expectations, w

e are likely to defer discontent over o

u r failures; if w

e h av

e few alternatives w

e are likely to feel the an

g er of desperation. A

fifth d eterm

in an

t is tim e: if our anger

is d en

ied expression in the short ru

n it intensifies before it sub-

sides. T h

e greater its intensity, th e longer it persists; m

any m en

carry the b

u rd

en of profound grievances throughout th

eir lives an d

pass th

em o

n to their children. T

h e first four variables resem

ble . but are not m

erely collective m anifestations of the three variables

that D ollard said d

eterm in

e the strength of instigation to aggression (anger) in

th e frustration-aggression sequence: the strength of in-

stigation to th e frustrated response (salience), the degree of inter-

ference w ith th

e frustrated response (degree), an d

th e n

u m

b er of

frustrated response-sequences (alternative values an d

opportuni- ties).2 R

uncim an specifies tw

o com parable variables as sources o

f variance in

R D

. "T h

e m agnitude o

f a relative deprivation is th e

extent of th e difference b

etw een

the desired situation an d

that of the ·person desiring it (as h

e sees it) .... T h

e degree of a relative

1 F rom

an autobiogniphical essay w ritten in 1933, cited

in T heodore A

bel, T he

N azi

M ovem

ent: W hy H

itler C arne to P

ow er (N

ew Y

ork: A therton P

ress, 1938, 1966), 125-126.

2 John D ollard and others, F

rustration and A ggression (N

ew H

aven: Y ale U

ni- versity P

ress, 1939), 33.

5 9

. ' 1