MODERN PROTEST MOVEMENTS IN THE USA AS A SUBJECT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

The article analyzes the main approaches to defining and understanding modern protest movements in the USA. The role of political protest as one of the forms of contentiouspoliticsis defined. The key importance of protest in the formation of mass social movements is clarified. The main theoretical approaches to defining the essence of the phenomenon and the concept of «social movement» are presented. The stages of development of modern protest movements and their key importance in the political life of the United States of America are studied.