During an unfamiliar emergency, people observe one another, agree on how to interpret what is happening, and develop shared expectations about what to do. Which theory best explains this process?
2 Theories of Collective Action Online Quiz Questions
Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 2 Theories of Collective Action, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.
Residents oppose a local policy but have difficulty coordinating. Which perspective most directly highlights how organizers, communication channels, meeting space, and allies can make a campaign feasible?
- A
Contagion theory
- B
Relative deprivation
- C
Resource mobilization theory
- D
New social movement approaches
A government becomes more responsive after a policy shift. According to political process theory, which conclusion best describes what this change means for a movement?
- A
A political opening guarantees success, even if a movement does not respond to it.
- B
A political opening can matter, but a movement must recognize and act on it.
- C
Political openings matter only when a movement has no organizations or networks.
- D
A political opening is the same thing as a shared identity.
Select all the examples of political opportunities emphasized by political process theory.
- A
Divisions among political elites
- B
Influential allies
- C
A movement’s access to money and communication channels
- D
A change in government policy
Select all the elements that a collective-action frame may provide to make a movement’s claims meaningful.
- A
Defining a problem
- B
Identifying causes or responsibility
- C
Listing every resource available to a movement
- D
Proposing a remedy
- E
Giving people reasons to participate
Older accounts of contagion theory often portrayed crowds as irrational and paid too little attention to participants’ purposes and social relationships.
- A
True
- B
False
According to relative deprivation theory, experiencing hardship by itself automatically produces collective protest.
- A
True
- B
False
What term describes the movement participants’ shared sense of identity, which Alberto Melucci says is created and sustained through interaction?
In political process theory, what term refers to formal organizations and informal networks that help mobilize people?
Resources for a movement may come from its members as well as .
In an uncertain situation, people may develop temporary norms that guide .
A movement campaigns for cultural recognition and greater control over everyday life. Explain how new social movement approaches would analyze its aims, and clarify whether this perspective means material inequality no longer matters.
A crowd’s behavior spreads as people imitate one another and are influenced by shared emotion. Which theory most directly highlights this process?
- A
Contagion theory
- B
Emergent norm theory
- C
Political process theory
- D
Relative deprivation
Because grievances are widespread while collective action is not, perceived injustice alone is usually insufficient to explain why a movement mobilizes.
- A
True
- B
False
After a flood disrupts ordinary services, residents discuss what to do and come to treat taking essential supplies as acceptable. Which explanation best fits how their shared expectations developed?
- A
Participants simply imitate one another, and their behavior spreads through emotional influence.
- B
Participants observe one another and develop temporary shared expectations that guide their response.
- C
Participants act only after an organization supplies resources and formal leadership.
- D
Participants compare their situation with another group and conclude that they are unfairly disadvantaged.
A community experiences economic hardship but does not organize a protest. Later, residents compare their treatment with that of a similar community and come to see the difference as unjust. Which concept most directly captures this newly perceived grievance?
- A
The group faces hardship, so protest is an automatic result.
- B
The group has enough organizational resources to coordinate a campaign.
- C
The group perceives its situation as unfair compared with a relevant group or what it believes it deserves.
- D
The group has identified an opening in government that guarantees its demands will be accepted.
Residents oppose a local policy, but their initial meetings do not lead to a campaign. Which development would most directly strengthen the practical capacity to organize, as emphasized by resource mobilization theory?
- A
The group gains organizers, a meeting place, and communication channels that make coordinated action more feasible.
- B
Residents begin to imitate one another's emotional reactions, causing behavior to spread through the crowd.
- C
Residents develop a new interpretation of what is acceptable during an unfamiliar situation.
- D
The group adopts claims about identity and culture rather than making any material demands.
In political process theory, what term refers to the formal organizations and informal networks through which people can be mobilized?
A movement notices that government leaders disagree over a proposed policy and decides to press its demands while the disagreement is visible. Which political process concept best describes the opening the movement is responding to?
- A
A resource that lets a movement sustain campaigns over time
- B
A temporary norm that guides behavior in an unfamiliar crowd
- C
A shared interpretation that identifies a problem and proposes a remedy
- D
A political opening, such as divisions among elites, that may make mobilization more favorable
What concept names the shared sense of identity that participants create and sustain through interaction in a movement?
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