Demonstrations evolved into highly flexible claim-making by massing supporters at power sites

Evidence

Eventually WUNC display via demonstrations turned out to be an extraordinarily flexible and effective form of claim-making. In its pristine form as a march to or from a public meeting it advertised the presence of a determined political force far more dramatically than any gathering in a closed space alone could do. As it developed over time, it became a means of massing people adjacent to major sites of power such as parliaments, capital buildings, stock exchanges, and central squares. It ramified into powerful variants such as the petition march, the silent vigil, the blockade of a city street or major highway, the ostentatious destruction of symbolically significant goods, and the occupation of factories, schools, or public buildings. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1190

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what WUNC display via demonstration actually is and why it scaled — the repertoire’s spatial logic (Worthiness, Unity, Numbers, Commitment made legible by public presence).
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1190
• XREF: connects to: Changes in demonstration form reflect deeper shifts in social movement politics — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1231; Legalizing demonstrations made claim-making less violent but more frequent — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1326; Regime type shapes who confronts protesters and how claims get made — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 380 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Changes in demonstration form reflect deeper shifts in social movement politics #corroborates (0.85) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1231
• Contentious politics is collective claim-making for power and advantage #expands (0.82) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 114
• Demonstrations detached from social movements and diffused into nondemocratic regimes #expands (0.80) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1232
• Legalizing demonstrations made claim-making less violent but more frequent #expands (0.78) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 1326
• Protesters strategically provoke opponents to force third-party intervention and support. #exemplifies (0.78) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4452
• Political-opportunity structures constrain ordinary people’s collective claim-making #qualifies (0.76) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 115
• Regime type shapes who confronts protesters and how claims get made #qualifies (0.74) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 380
• Expanded protest crowds can blunt original organizers’ political messaging. #complicates (0.73) — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 409