ABSTRACT
In Western democracies, in the wake of the student revolts of the late 1960s, several waves of collective protest have been superimposed and have coalesced to form a relatively stable, new type of movement. Along with these “new social movements”, there have come into being in the system of political interest mediation collective actors that are distinctly different from established collective actors, political parties, and interest groups. These differences relate to some of the movements’ goals, but most of all to their forms of action, their organization, and their resource base (Rucht 1991). In particular, social movements depend to a greater degree on the willingness of citizens to become involved than do established collective actors, which rely on professional apparatuses and direct access to the political system. Therefore, whether these movements can have an impact on distinct policies, change the structure of the system of political interest mediation (Offe 1985; Roth 1989), or whether they may even challenge the entire political order (Dalton & Kuechler 1990), depends essentially on the extent to which they are supported by mass publics. It is the degree of mass support that finally limits the movements’ ability to mobilize for collective action, and that is their key means to reach their goals.
