Sociology/Political Science

“Finally we have a collection that provides a coherent framework for understanding the connections between collective action and public policy. The value of social movements as a vehicle for civic engagement rings through loud and clear.” -Mary Margaret Fonow, author of Union Women: Forging Feminism in the United Steelworkers of America

Routing the Opposition connects the substance and content of policies with the movements that create and respond to them. The authors engage such topics as the process of involving multiple stakeholders in policy making, the impact of overlapping social networks on policy and social movement development, and the influence of policy design on the increase or decline of civic involvement. Capturing successes and failures, Routing the Opposition focuses on strategies that both transform social movements and guide the development of public policy, revealing as well what happens when the very different organizational cultures of activists and public policy makers interact.

Contributors: Edwin Amenta, Lee Ann Banaszak, Frank R. Baumgartner, Ryken Grattet, Mrill Ingram, Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Christine Mahoney, John D. McCarthy, Suzanne Mettler, Ellen Reese.

David S. Meyer is professor of sociology and political science at University of California, Irvine.

Valerie Jenness is professor of criminology, law, and society and sociology at University of California, Irvine.

Helen Ingram is professor of social ecology at University of California, Irvine.

Social Movements, Protest, and Contention Series, vol. 23

University of Minnesota Press
Printed in U.S.A.
Cover design by Jeenee Lee
Cover photograph copyright Joseph Sohm; ChromoSohm Inc./CORBIS