ABSTRACT
The demographic and motivational characteristics of the two classes (activist partisans and passive members) of partisans are often quite different. Most activists on the establishment side of a controversy have become involved through the occupational activity of their workday jobs. The demands of one's occupational role also account for some activism on the challenge side of the controversy, for among the voluntary groups is a minority of paid professionals including writers, organizers, and officers of environmental, consumer, and other citizen groups, as well as lawyers specializing in regulatory, environmental, or consumer affairs. When active opposition to fracking began, there were similar coalitions of local rural conservatives with politically liberal activists living farther afield. The picture of active partisans, though incomplete, is sufficient to make comparisons to partisanship within the general public. The people who are active on either side of a technical controversy are a very small, nonrepresentative portion of the total population.
