Safronov Viacheslav. Democratic Protest in the European Countries: Value Motivations and Societal Context. Telescop: Jurnal sociologicheskich i marketingovich issledovaniy, 2016, № 6, pp. 10-20.

Abstract

The article discusses the motivation of citizens of European countries to participate in a democratic, non-violent protest. It presents an analysis of values, stimulating protest activity, and the conditions for their actualization in societal contexts that characterize the level of economic development of these countries, their political openness and culture. Empirical data from the European Social Survey 2012-2013 - representative surveys in 27 countries - and information about these countries of the World Bank were analyzed by statistical methods of two-level modeling. Results of the study show that the motivation to participate in the protest is not only connected with the values, suggesting the expansion of freedom and equality of opportunities, but also with altruistic aspirations - the human desire to understand other people and help those in need. The best explanation of protest activity can be obtained by combining of these orientations in the syndrome of postmodern values. With the growth of the individual's commitment to these values the probability of participation in the actions of direct pressure on the authorities increased significantly. The impact of values on political behavior is different in the European countries and depends on societal context. A key contextual factor is the structure of political opportunities - openness of the political system in the country. It is linked to the value motivation of protest with the negative quadratic function - in the form of an inverted U. Value motivation appears less clear in slightly and fully open political systems than in the half-open democratic regimes, not fully consistent with the principles of liberal democracy.