One foot in parliament,one on the streets: Studying the fluid relation between individual participation and party evaluations of protest

Abstract

This paper investigates the interconnection between electoral and non-electoral politics. Through a unique integration of social media and nationally representative survey data, we examine how political parties in Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom evaluate episodes of street protest and how these evaluations relate to their voters’ participation in such protests. Our analysis shows that all political parties, regardless of type or ideology, engage with the non-electoral field, showing a greater tendency to express support for protests they agree with, rather than to criticize those they oppose, in their social media posts. Moreover, our findings underscore a robust association between party support or criticism of a protest and the likelihood of its voters either participating in or shunning the same protest. These findings renew our understanding of fluid linkages between parties and civil society through a less structured and deterministic double role of voters and street protesters than in the past.