Violent political conflict has typically been studied either from an economic discontent or a political opportunity framework. This study proposes a conjunctural model, which hypothesizes that the production of grievances due to economic inequality varies systematically and interacts with political opportunities to generate violent political conflict. Using multiple regression analysis, this cross-national research examines the interaction between economic inequality and political opportunities, and their direct effects on political violence. Findings provide support for the conjunctural model propositions that political opportunity structures moderate the relationship between economic inequality and violent political conflict. Specifically, the positive effects of income inequality and separatist potential on political violence are enhanced in weak states. The impact of class exploitation on violent political conflict is moderated by regime structure and political institutionalization. Findings suggest that political opportunity structures may operate in different ways for challenges rooted in class as opposed to ethnic inequalities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Amenta, E. , B. G. Carruthers, and Y. Zylan. 1992. A hero for the aged? The Townsend Movement, the political mediation model, and U.S. old-age policy, 1934-1950. American Journal of Sociology98 (September): 308-339.
2.
Aya, R. 1990. Rethinking revolutions and collective violence: Studies in Concept, Theory and Method. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
3.
Boswell, T. , and W. J. Dixon. 1990. Dependency and rebellion: A cross-national analysis. American Sociological Review55 (August): 540-559.
4.
Boswell, T. , and W. J. Dixon. 1993. Marx's theory of rebellion: A cross-national analysis of class exploitation, economic development, and violent revolt. American Sociological Review58 (October): 681-702.
5.
Brockett, C. D.1992. Measuring political violence and land inequality in Central America. American Political Science Review86 (March): 169-176.
6.
Davies, J. C.1962. Toward a theory of revolution. American Sociological Review27 (February): 5-19.
7.
Dixon, W. J. , E. N. Muller, and M. A. Seligson. 1993. Inequality and political violence revisited: Response to Wang (1993). American Political Science Review87 (December): 983-993.
8.
Ellina, M. , and W. H. Moore. 1990. Discrimination and political violence: A cross-national study with two time periods. Western Political Quarterly43 (June): 267-2278.
9.
Feierabend, I. K. , R. L. Feierabend, and B. A. Nesvold. 1969. Social change and political violence: Cross-national patterns. In Violence in America: Historical and comparative perspectives edited by H. Graham and T. R. Gurr, 632-6687. New York: Praeger.
10.
Goodwin, J. , and T. Skocpol. 1989. Explaining revolutions in the contemporary Third World. Politics and Society17 (December): 489-509.
11.
Green, J. D.1984. Countermobilization as a revolutionary form. Comparative Politics16 (January): 153-169.
12.
Gurr, T. R.1968. A causal model of civil strife: A comparative analysis using new indices. American Political Science Review62 (December): 1104-1124.
13.
Gurr, T. R. 1970. Why men rebel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
14.
Gurr, T. R. 1990. Polity II: Political structures and regime change, 1800-1986. Ann Arbor, MI: ICPSR.
15.
Gurr, T. R. 1993a. Minorities at risk: A global view of ethnopolitical conflicts. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press.
16.
Gurr, T. R.1993b. Why minorities rebel: A global analysis of communal mobilization and conflict since 1945. International Political Science Review14 (April): 161-201.
17.
Gurr, T. R. , and R. Duvall. 1973. Civil conflict in the 1960s: A reciprocal theoretical system with parameter estimates. Comparative Political Studies6 (July): 135-169.
18.
Gurr, T. R. , and M. I. Lichbach. 1979. A forecasting model for political conflict within nations. In To augur well: Early warning indicators in world politics edited by J. D. Singer and M. D. Wallace, 153-193. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage.
19.
Hardy, M. A.1979. Economic growth, distributional inequality, and political conflict in industrial societies. Journal of Political and Military Sociology7 (fall): 209-227.
20.
Hechter, M. 1975. Internal colonialism: The Celtic fringe in British national development, 1536-1966. Berkeley: University of California Press.
21.
Hibbs, D. A., Jr. 1973. Mass political violence: A cross-national causal analysis. New York: Wiley.
22.
Huntington, S. P. 1968. Political order in changing societies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
23.
Huntington, S. P.1991. Democracy's third wave. Journal of Democracy2 (spring): 12-34.
24.
Jalali, R. , and S. M. Lipset. 1992-93. Racial and ethnic conflicts: A global perspective. Political Science Quarterly107 (winter): 585-606.
25.
Jenkins, J. C. 1985. The politics of insurgency: The farm worker movement in the 1960s. New York: Columbia University Press.
26.
Jenkins, J. C. , and B. Klandermans, eds. 1995. The politics of social protest: Comparative perspectives on states and social movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
27.
Jenkins, J. C. , and C. Perrow. 1977. Insurgency of the powerless: Farm worker movements, 1946-1972. American Sociological Review42 (April): 249-268.
28.
Jenkins, J. C. , and K. Schock. 1992. Global structures and political processes in the study of domestic political conflict. Annual Review of Sociology18:161-185.
29.
King, G. , R. O. Keohane, and S. Verba. 1994. Designing social inquiry: Scientific inference in qualitative research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
30.
Lichbach, M. I.1989. An evaluation of “Does economic inequality breed political conflict?” studies. World Politics41 (July): 431-470.
31.
Lieberson, S.1991. Small N's and big conclusions: An examination of the reasoning in comparative studies based on a small number of cases. Social Forces70 (December): 307-320.
32.
Marx, K. [1887] 1967. Capital: A critique of political economy. 3 vols. Edited by F. Engels. Reprint, New York: International Publishers.
33.
McAdam, D. 1982. Political process and the development of Black insurgency, 1930-1970. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
34.
Midlarsky, M. I.1988. Rulers and ruled: Patterned inequality and the onset of mass political conflict. American Political Science Review82 (June): 429-509.
35.
Moaddel, M.1994. Political conflict in the world economy: A cross-national analysis of modernization and world-system theories. American Sociological Review59 (April): 276-303.
36.
Muller, E. N.1985. Income inequality, regime repressiveness, and political violence. American Sociological Review50 (February): 47-61.
37.
Muller, E. N. , and M. A. Seligson. 1987. Inequality and insurgency. American Political Science Review81 (June): 425-451.
38.
Muller, E. N. , and E. Weede. 1990. Cross-national variation in political violence: A rational actor approach. Journal of Conflict Resolution34:624-651.
39.
Nielsen, F. 1986. Structural conduciveness and ethnic mobilization: The Flemish movement in Belgium. In Competitive ethnic relations edited by S. Olzak and J. Nagel, 173-198. New York: Academic Press.
40.
Oberschall, A. 1973. Social conflict and social movements. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
41.
Olson, M.1963. Rapid growth as a destabilizing force. Journal of Economic History23 (December): 529-552.
42.
O'Sullivan See, K. , and W. J. Wilson. 1989. Race and ethnicity. In Handbook of sociology edited by N. J. Smelser, 223-242. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
43.
Park, K. H.1986. Reexamination of the linkage between income inequality and political violence. Journal of Political and Military Sociology14 (fall): 185-197.
44.
Piven, F. F. , and R. A. Cloward. 1991. Collective protest: A critique of resource-mobilization theory. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society4 (summer): 435-458.
45.
Rule, J. B. 1988. Theories of civil violence. Berkeley: University of California Press.
46.
Sanders, D. 1981. Patterns of political instability. New York: Macmillan.
47.
Scott, J. C. 1985. Weapons of the weak: Everyday forms of peasant resistance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
48.
Sigelman, L. , and M. Simpson. 1977. A cross-national test of the linkage between economic inequality and political violence. Journal of Conflict Resolution21:105-128.
49.
Skocpol, T. 1979. States and social revolutions. New York: Cambridge University Press.
50.
Sorensen, G. 1993. Democracy and democratization: Processes and prospects in a changing world. Boulder, CO: Westview.
51.
Tarrow, S. 1989. Struggle, politics, and reform: Collective action, social movements, and cycles of protest. Ithaca, NY: Center for International Studies, Cornell University.
52.
Tarrow, S. 1994. Power in movement: Social movements, collective action, and politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
53.
Taylor, C. L. , and D. A. Jodice. 1983. World handbook of political and social indicators. 3d ed. 2 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
54.
Tilemma, H. K.1989. Foreign overt military intervention in the nuclear age. Journal of Peace Research26 (May): 179-195.
55.
Tilly, C. 1969. Collective violence in European perspective. In Violence in America: Historical and comparative perspectives edited by H. D. Graham and T. R. Gurr, 5-34. New York: Signet Books.
56.
Tilly, C. 1978. From mobilization to revolution. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
57.
Wang, T. Y.1993. Inequality and political violence revisited: Comment on Muller and Seligson (1987). American Political Science Review87 (December): 979-983.
58.
Weede, E.1981. Income inequality, average income, and domestic violence. Journal of Conflict Resolution25:639-654.
59.
Weede, E.1987. Some new evidence on correlates of political violence: Income inequality, regime repressiveness, and economic development. European Sociological Review3 (September): 97-108.
60.
White, R. W.1993. On measuring political violence: Northern Ireland, 1969 to 1980. American Sociological Review58 (August): 575-585.
61.
World Bank . 1989. World tables. 1988-89 ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
62.
World Bank . 1990. World tables. 1989-90 ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
63.
Zimmermann, E. 1983. Political violence, crises, and revolutions. Cambridge, UK: Schenkman.
