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LEPITEN, Rosalito POL3A

LIM, Ramsie Cezka POL208


QUINTANA, Marjorie Mr. Michael Ramirez

POLITICAL PROCESS THEORIES

The concept of political opportunities lies at the core of the approach wherein
social movements are the dominant paradigm in the study of social movements and
contentious politics. Political opportunities can be defined broadly as “consistent but not
necessarily formal, permanent, or national signals to social or political actors which
either encourage or discourage them to use their internal resources to form social
movements” (Tarrow 1996: 54, emphasis in original). More specifically, they refer to
those aspects of the political system that affect the possibilities that challenging groups
have to mobilize effectively. In this sense, opportunities are “options for collective
action, with chances and risks attached to them, which depend on factors outside the
mobilizing group” (Koopmans 2004: 65).
The reading took place in Italy because Europeans looked at the more stable
aspects of political opportunities, trying to account for cross-national differences in the
forms, levels, and outcomes of social movements and protest activities. Unlike in United
States, they have focused on the more volatile aspects of political opportunities, looking
at the opening up of “windows of opportunities” that may encourage collective actors to
form or join social movements and carry protest activities. Their focus is more on the
emergence or development over time of a given movement or movement cycle on the
basis of changes in the institutionalized political system or the configuration of power.
The concept of political opportunities has made the fortunes and sometimes the
misfortunes of the study of social movements and contentious politics in the past three
to four decades. It allowed analysts to reject the idea that collective action is a
phenomenon sui generis detached from what goes on in the realm of institutional
politics.

We extend our group’s congratulations to the second group for the deliberation of
their report that was composed and presented by Uchi, Santiaguel, and Nuñez in which
the topic is all about the Political process theory. First, our group appreciated the
satisfaction and organization of the reporter's PowerPoint presentation because it gives
us an eye catchy while listening to the discussions of the group. We also appreciated
the reporter’s way of discussing the topic despite the interruption of the unstable internet
connection, yet we acknowledged the efforts of the reporters. Hence while the reporters
of the group were reporting, based on our observation our group have also noticed that
the reporters are lack mastery of their topic which lead them to struggle in answering
the other group’s question to their topic especially the question asked by our professor.
But we also understand that their topic is yet difficult to understand which needs to have
a lot of time to study therefore it may be the reason for their struggles. Even though the
majority of their report was interrupted by blocking and not really focused on the
reporting because of the bothering, still we acknowledged the reporters intellectual
knowledge and shared their topic to the class. Lastly, our group congratulated the
reporters for the lessons we learned from their topic.

Moreover, it is said that political process theories are considered as the core
theory of social movements and how they mobilized work to create change. There are
five key components that determine success or failure of a social movement and these
are political opportunities which is the most important aspect of political process
theories because according to the theory, without them, success for political movement
is impossible because it seek opportunities for intervention and change within the
existing political system. Opportunities might be driven by the broadening of political
enfranchisement to those previously excluded like women and people of color,
(historically speaking), divisions among leaders, increasing diversity within political
bodies and the electorate, and a loosening of repressive structures that previously kept
people from demanding change. Next key component is the mobilizing structure for of
course every political movement already has existing organizations that are present
among the community that wants change. These organizations serve as mobilizing
structures for a social movement by providing membership, leadership, and
communication and social networks to the budding movement. Examples include
churches, community and nonprofit organizations, and student groups and schools, to
name a few. Next is framing processes which are usually carried out by the leaders of
an organization in order to allow the group or movement to clearly and persuasively
describe existing problems, and to say why change is necessary. Framing processes
foster the ideological buy-in among movement members, members of the political
establishment, and the public at large that is necessary for a social movement to seize
political opportunities and make change. Protest cycles are also one important
component to political process theories because a protest cycle is a prolonged period of
time when opposition to the political system and acts of protest are in a heightened
state. Within this theoretical perspective, protests are important expressions of the
views and demands of the mobilizing structures connected to the movement and are
vehicles to express the ideological frames connected to the framing process. As such,
protests serve to strengthen solidarity within the movement, to raise awareness among
the general public about the issues targeted by the movement, and also serve to help
recruit new members. The fifth and final aspect of political process theories is
contentious repertoires, which refers to the set of means through which the movement
makes its claims. These typically include strikes, demonstrations (protests), and
petitions. When all of these elements are present, it is possible that a social movement
will be able to make changes within the existing political system that will reflect the
desired outcome. It is important also to take note the role of social media in the
contemporary period of world’s rapid economic development and social transformation
just like the way the frequency of environmental protest has caught public attention and
realize the increasing adoption of social media as platforms for protest. As a newly
emerging platform of communication, social media provides multifarious channels that
allow people to post, edit, share and release crucial information across physical and
media boundaries; generates new virtual space for interaction with one another anytime
and anywhere. Furthermore, social media has become the important platform of online
communication and turns almost anybody into a ‘citizen journalist’.
REFERENCES:

• Crossman, Ashley. (2020, August 27). Political Process Theory. Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/political-process-theory-3026451
• Koopmans, R. (2004). Political Opportunity Structure: Some Splitting to Balance
the Lumping. In Goodwin, J. and J. Jasper (eds.), Rethinking Social Movements.
Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield (61–73).
• Tarrow, S. (1996). States and Opportunities: The Political Structuring of Social
Movements. In McAdam, D., McCarthy, J., and M. Zald (eds.), Comparative
Perspectives on Social Movements. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
(41–61).

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