Contention is not a hydraulic response to pressure but shaped by prior institutions

Evidence

Contentious politics does not, however, operate like a hydraulic pump: increase the pressure or reduce the resistance and more water flows. South Africa brings out dramatically the influence of previously existing political institutions on forms and outcomes of contention. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 631

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Most contention strongly reuses familiar performance forms rather than innovating; Laws of contention vary by regime type and era. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 365; Contention’s regularities need historical, not just mechanistic, explanation. (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• A regime’s past path in capacity-democracy space shapes its contention practices. #corroborates (0.95) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 145
• Institutional bias operates through structure rather than direct external pressure #corroborates (0.80) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 859
• Revolutions happen when obstacles to pressure are removed, not when they are created. #contradicts (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4306
• Semi-democratic medium-capacity regimes occupy an intermediate contention position #qualifies (0.75) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 503