Mass protests, which are generally linked to social movements with fairly broad-based if narrowly defined support, emerge in eras characterized by uncertainty, crises, and shifting social norms and mores (Lent, 1-2). Mass protests are both the result of and the cause of social changes. However, Adam Lent (2) notes that social movements such as the anti-war protests taking place in the United States in the Vietnam era and the civil rights movement of the same time required resources in the form of both human and financial capital. In other words, movements depend upon external conditions and a wide array of variables.
A protest cycle generally refers to the fact that social movements ebb and flow, building to a crescendo in which mass protests are common. As Lent (2) has noted, the mass demonstration has shown itself to be the most flexible tactic of the contemporary era with respect to social movements. However, no social movement regardless of its significance or the level of support that it enjoys can engender mass demonstrations indefinitely. Small or large victories tend to undermine protest movements and refocus attention of activists. In essence, the protest cycle begins in response to grievances and comes to an end when the majority of those grievances have been satisfied in the minds of the core activists.
The Iron Law of Oligarchy
The iron law of oligarchy was developed by Robert Michels who concluded that the formal organization of bureaucracies inevitably leads to oligarchy, under which organizations that were originally idealistic and/or democratic, become dominated by a small, self-serving group of individuals who have achieved positions of power and responsibility (Voss and Sherman, 305). Similarly, Michels theorized that all organizations tend, over time, to develop conservative goals as officials gain power and organizational maintenance becomes a top priority. Despite formal...