Contention spirals make rulers’ performances rigid and challengers’ flexible

Evidence

Innovations in claim-making performances accelerate during spirals of contention but slow during periods of little political change and of demobilization. … During those accelerations, the performances of power-holders become more rigid while those of challengers become more flexible. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 679

Categorization

• XREF: Asymmetry claim directly relevant to reader’s test: Tilly does state an asymmetry (rulers rigid, challengers flexible) here, so the framework does carry asymmetries — worth checking whether a rights-defense/politicization asymmetry is a coherent extension or strains what he models. — connects to: Shifting opportunities drive power-holders rigid and challengers flexible — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 279; Rapid opportunity shifts ignite spirals of contention reaching revolutionary extremes — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 280; Long domination produces adjustment to rather than rebellion — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2121
• QUESTION: Does Tilly’s ruler-rigidity/challenger-flexibility asymmetry actually do the work the reader’s institutional-absorption hypothesis needs, or is it about tactical innovation rather than legitimation?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 679

Broader Connections

• Shifting opportunities drive power-holders rigid and challengers flexible #corroborates (0.95) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 279
• Rapid opportunity shifts ignite spirals of contention reaching revolutionary extremes #expands (0.78) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 280
• Long domination produces adjustment to rather than rebellion #complicates (0.72) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2121