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
908-927
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.
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