ABSTRACT
Opposition to power arises when those subject to it experience shared feelings of exploitation and oppression. Exploitation and oppression are punishing experiences, which arouse anger, disapproval, and antagonism against those held responsible for them. Social values that legitimate opposition to dominant powers, and thereby solidify it, can emerge only in a collectivity whose members share the experience of being exploited and oppressed, just as social values that legitimate the authority of a superior can develop only in a collectivity of subordinates. The political support for an opposition party with a radical ideology gives expression to people's feelings of antagonism to ruling powers and alienation from existing political institutions. This chapter examines how conditions in the social structure and the society's political institutions affect political conflict and opposition, and how the dynamics of political contest and ideological conflict influence the chances of a growing opposition party.
