Since The 1970 S, The Left And Right Movement Comparative Study Of The Political Process

In the light of political process theory, this dissertation proposes afive-core-variable political process analysis model for the investigation of theAmerican left-and right-wing social movements, conducts a comparative study of thepolitical process of the American left-and right-wing social movements since the1970s and explores the two recent cases of left-and right-wing social movements, i.e.the Occupy Wall Street movement and Tea Party movement.This dissertation begins with a hypothesis, that is, there exists a correlationbetween the social and political impact of social movements and their soundcommunity basis, unified movement appeals, attaching great importance to theconstructing and communication of movement discourse at the moral level, thestrategies and means of influencing party and electoral politics, and the favorablesocial incentives. In order to test this hypothesis, an analysis model for thecomparative study of left-and right-wing social movements is first proposed based onthe political process theory. Then this dissertation probes the structural characteristicsof left-and right-wing social movements and their connection with externalopportunities and environment from the perspectives of new social movement theory,post-industrial social theory and social capital based on the development of Americansocial movements and relevant historical data of socio-political, economic andcultural development since the1970s. The study mainly revolves around the mostrepresentative left-and right-wing social movements since the1970s. Left-wing socialmovements include the environmental movement, the women’s movement, the labormovement, the peace movement, the anti-globalization movement, the pro-choicemovement, and the Occupy Wall Street movement. Right-wing social movementsinclude the new Christian Right movement, the pro-life movement, and Tea Partymovement. After an overall investigation of the changes in social movements duringthis period, this dissertation will use a comparative analysis model to describe andanalyze the political process of American left-and right-wing social movements sincethe1970s in great details. Finally, this dissertation ends with a study of two recentcases of American left-and right-wing social movements, i.e. the Occupy Wall Streetmovement and Tea Party movement.The findings of this study can be listed as follows: first, there exists a positiverelationship between the impact of social movements and their sound communitybasis, unified movement appeals, attaching great importance to the constructing andcommunication of movement discourse at the moral level, the strategies and means ofinfluencing party and electoral politics, and the favorable social incentives. It isnoteworthy that the relationship between favorable social incentives and the impact ofsocial movements is more complex, i.e. favorable social incentives may not only leadto the inaction of social movements which lies in the favorable social environment(e.g. the Occupy Wall Street movement), but also provoke the emergence of thosesocial movements which lie in the unfavorable social environment (e.g. Tea Partymovement). Moreover, the increasing use of emerging information and communication technologies in future social movements might pose a challenge to thepositive relationship between a sound community basis and the impact of socialmovements. Second, social movements have been occurring frequently since the1970s, many of which were large-scale. However, these movements were short-livedwith simplistic appeals, lacking the follow-up of sustained community-basedmovements. The relative decline of social movements since the1970s is attributed tothe change of structural characteristics of social movements per se (includingprofessionalization of social movement organizations, fragmented appeals, and themeans of mobilization shifting from grassroot mobilization to direct mail mobilization)and the transformation of social, political and economic environment (including thedecline of social capital in the United States, the diminishing of the number andseriousness of social problems with the social progress, the right-turn of Americansociety and politics after the radicalness of1960s social movements, and theeconomic prosperity in most of time since the1970s covering up the bad socialconsequences of neo-liberal economic policies). Third, the community-basedgrassroot mobilization model, unified movement appeals, the construction andeffective communication of movement discourse at the moral level, alliance withtraditional political parties and favorable social incentives are the major reasons forthe relative prevalence of right-wing social movements over left-wing ones since the1970s. Fourth, the latest cases of left-and right-wing social movements retained thepower imbalance between left-and right-wing social movements since the1970s.Being initially instigated abroad, lack of core leaders and the support of grassrootorganizations, absence of movement discourse construction at the moral level,simplistic movement strategy, neglect of alliance with the political elite, lack ofeffective echoes from traditional political allies and support from left-wing traditionalmedia, all these account for the weakness of the Occupy Wall Street Movementcompared with Tea Party Movement. Although the Occupy Wall Street Movement isgenerally less powerful in its influence than Tea Party Movement, it manifests somenew characteristics different from other left-wing social movements since the1970s,i.e. the use of emerging information and communication technologies to organize andmobilize large-scale protests and demonstrations, the left-wing social movements’renewed focus on such macroeconomic issues as the government’s economic policy,tax and welfare policies, social injustice, and the social gap between rich and poor. Itis noteworthy that the use of emerging information and communication technologiesin the social movements will probably become a key factor in changing the futurebalance of power between left-and right-wing social movements.The social movement is a mirror of the micro-social change, a barometer of thesocial structure, political and economic systems and cultural changes as well.Theoretically speaking, this dissertation continues the context and analysis logic ofpolitical process theory in the study of social movements, highlighting thecomparative study of left-and right-wing social movements to which enough attentionis not given by the academic world. In a practical sense, this dissertation helps betterunderstand the development and evolution of left-and right-wing social movementsafter the boom of American social movements in the1960s, and the socio-political and economic changes with regard to the balance of power between left-andright-wing social movements, and the intrinsic pattern and periodicity of socialmovements as well.There are two innovations in this dissertation: first, it places the study ofright-wing social movements under the theoretical framework of political processtheory; second, based on political process theory, it conducts a comparative study ofAmerican left-and right-wing social movements, supplemented with an analysis ofrecent cases of American left-and right-wing social movements.