From Madison to Wall Street: Assessing the Electoral Consequences of Protest on the Left

Abstract

This paper compares three movements with respect to their impact on elections: the Tea Party, the pro-labor protests in Madison and other capitals, and Occupy Wall Street. Findings: 1) Both the Tea Party and the labor protests have moved directly to electoral action. 2) The Tea Party increased its influence by its willingness to sabotage Republican Party chances of victory; the labor-based insurgency, in contrast, has never opposed a Democratic incumbent. 3) Occupy Wall Street is unlikely to lead to electoral activism by its participants, but has had a major indirect influence by changing the national issue agenda.