Edwards and Marullo (1995) ‘Organizational Mortality in Declining Social Movements.’
Citation: Edwards, Robert and Marullo, Sam (1995) ‘Organizational Mortality in Declining Social Movements: The Demise of Peace Movement Organizations in the End of the Cold War Era,’ American Sociological Review, 60:6, pp. 908-927.
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Theory, Research Question, Hypothesis:
Relationship to Other Research/Ideas Contested/Noted Gaps:
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Method:
Primary/Original Data:
Argument/Conclusion:
Edwards and Marullo (1995:921-924): Small size (fewer than 100 members), adolescence, and lack of legitimacy all negatively impact movement survival. Formal structure and access to the polity improved survival chances, narrow focus decreased them. Framing content had no significant impact on outcomes, but this may be because the debates about strategy were consistent across movements. Survival differed substantially by movement domain: Small organisations were more likely to survive if they could establish a niche and embed themselves in community networks, large ones if they could maintain a broad support base. National organisation with a broad focus and lack of questionable affiliations were more likely to survive.
Limitations/Flaws:
Focused on Western movements. Core finding of lack of legitimacy, small size, and adolescence being critical factors are of limited applicability to understanding the decline of violent SMs that have been in operation for a lengthy period of time.
Abstract: We examine the U.S. peace movement at the end of the cold war, 1988 to 1992. Our hypotheses derive from recent research in organizations and social movements; they specify those organizational characteristics likely to be associated with the demise of peace movement organizations (PMO). Using a stratified, national longitudinal sample of PMOs representative of the late 1980s peace movement, we analyze organizational mortality through the use of logistic regression techniques. Consistent with previous research on comparable organizations, smallness, organizational “adolescence,” lack of legitimacy, and lack of threshold levels of organizational structure predict mortality in the population as a whole. However, the determinants of PMO mortality differ substantially by movement domain: The survival of small domain PMOs is associated with those resources that enable them to carve out a broadly focused issue niche and establish themselves in community networks. The survival of large domain PMOs is associated with factors that enable them to elicit and maintain broad-based support from a localized resource base. National PMOs are less likely to disband; having a broad peace focus and avoiding delegitimating public affiliations enhance their survival.
Notes:
Edwards and Marullo (1995:922): Individual membership, rather than budget, staff size, or active participation rates, were the most significant factor in relation to group size. Age may have been affected also by changes in the external political environment, as well as the large number of organisations in operation.