Examines street demonstrations from 1980 through 1984.
What drives citizens to take to the streets—and what does it reveal about a nation's political soul?
In The Politics of Provocation Gadi Wolfsfeld offers a study of protest behavior in Jerusalem, a city where political tension is not an occasional event but a defining feature of daily life. Against the backdrop of Israel's capital—home to deep ideological divides and a large ultra-Orthodox population— Wolfsfeld examines an unprecedented rise in public demonstrations and what they signal about shifting patterns of political engagement.
Drawing on a rare and rigorous dataset of 423 street demonstrations between 1980 and 1984, Wolfsfeld moves beyond anecdote to deliver a systematic analysis of both individual and collective political participation. His findings challenge conventional assumptions about protest, participation, and political expression, revealing a more complex relationship between citizens and the state than commonly understood.
Structured with clarity and precision, The Politics of Provocation combines theoretical innovation with empirical depth, offering a framework that connects personal motivations to broader collective action. From the dynamics of participation to the outcomes of protest movements, each chapter builds toward a comprehensive understanding of political activism in a divided society.
"In the past few years, it almost appears that protesting against the government has replaced working for it as the primary occupation of Jerusalem's residents. As the nation's capital, and home to the country's largest ultra-Orthodox community, the city is a natural focus for street demonstrations. As a result, Jerusalem has been the unhappy witness to a national rise in the number of public political activities. Wolfsfeld has been studying the Israeli proclivity for shouting in the streets. Wolfsfeld's research encompasses 423 street demonstrations from 1980 through 1984, and his conclusions both confirm and confound expectations." — The Jerusalem Post - International Edition
"This book blends comprehensiveness with methodological rigor, unusually rich data, and a very straightforward presentation. In addition, its theoretical/conceptual orientation is both novel and grounded in sound testing with extensive data. The inclusion of both individual and collective behaviors is a feature almost never found in participation studies, and this one does so with remarkable ease in assembling relevant data and presenting it in a clearly categorized framework. Moreover, it is well written and almost completely devoid of padding and jargon." — Marilyn Hoskin
Gadi Wolfsfeld is in the Department of Political Science and the Department of Communication at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Introduction
1. The Changing Political Culture of Israel
2. The Analytical Framework
3. Who, What, and Why: Explaining Individual Participation
4. Beyond the Numbers
5. Explaining Collective Action
6. Beyond the Collective Numbers
7. Outcomes of Collective Action
8. Conclusion
Methodological Appendix
Notes
References
Index