Support to Protest Movements: The Legitimacy Triadic Model

Almost everyday, media talk about the arise of some new movement of protest. These protests become relevant or disappear due to the support that they receive from the population. But why do people support a protest in some cases and not in others? By integrating the tripolar model proposed by Mugny (1982) with Kelman and Hamilton’s (1989) theory on legitimacy, in this study we consider the issue of legitimacy concerning disobedient groups. Indeed, two legitimacy can be identified: (1) the legitimacy of the group – i.e., disobedient groups may be perceived as victims or threats and this exerts a different influence on population’s support; (2 ) the legitimacy of disobedient groups’ requests – i.e., their requests may support a social change enacted for the sake of every social group or achieve specific and restricted rights. Results show that in general participants support more the protest of the victimized than the threatening group, while no difference emerges from what concern the request’s legitimacy. However, value-oriented citizens (i.e., people attaching importance to the universal values of justice and equality) tend to accept more the inclusive than the exclusive group’s request.