This project examines attempts by government authorities to undermine overt, collective challenges, such as riots, protests, and acts of terror, by targeting activities that precede and/or support such behavior. After providing a theory of how repression and resistance develop, the study examines unique data drawn from the confidential records of the Guatemalan National Police to assess the use of repressive action during the years between 1975 and 1985. Empirical tests confirm that 1) government forces anticipate challenger development by identifying the mobilization activities nascent challengers rely on to initiate and sustain overt, collective challenges; 2) the use of repression to undermine such efforts is specifically designed to contain the spread of radical (i.e., highly transformative) mobilization; 3) political repression directed at mobilization diminishes subsequent challenges against the government; and 4) decisions to liberalize repressive practices occur only after radical mobilization attempts have successfully been purged from society. Implications are drawn for how we understand and study political order and conflict.
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Undermining Resistance:Mobilization, Repression, and the Enforcement of Political Order.