"The people want to bring down the regime": understanding protest efficacy in the Middle East and North Africa

This present work analyzed the efficacy rate of protest outcomes when compared to the conceptualization of said protests. Specifically, this work focused on three states which participated in the Dignity Revolutions: Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria. Conceptualization of protests is to be understood as the overall perception towards protest within each state; in other words, do citizens of these countries associate protests with violence and extremism or do they associate protests with pride and change? It was speculated that more positive conceptions of protesting would yield more effective results, while negative conceptions of protesting would yield more ineffective results. To best study this correlation, all major protest movements in each of the three case studies were analyzed to discern both the understanding of protesting at the time and the efficacy of the protests. Findings showed that though there is a definite correlation between conceptions of protest and their eventual efficacy, the relationship between these two variables is most positively correlated between negative conceptions and ineffective outcomes. While negative conceptions of protesting always lead to ineffective outcomes, positive conceptions of protesting did not always lead to increased efficacy in outcomes. This present work stands out as a new approach to theory of protests, one which does not attempt to predict who will protest or when protests will occur; rather, this research introduces an investigation into how protest efficacy and outcomes may be better understood. The practical implications for this research are discussed.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?