4 - Record Keeping and Data Collection

Summary

It is one thing to understand which actors and what actions are involved with challenger (de)mobilization and state repression. It is quite another to understand exactly what is involved with an analysis of such activity.

Essentially, I maintain that there are three elements to any analysis of challenger (de)mobilization. First, one has to have a challenger that can be observed from its inception to its demise. Second, one has to have information not only about what the challengers do in general but also against the authorities in particular as well as what happens inside of the challenging organization on a daily basis, before, during, and after any government action has been taken against them. Third, one has to have a detailed understanding of the different activities undertaken by authorities against the relevant challengers as well as some understanding of other external influences that might play a role in the particular organization’s survival. Each is discussed subsequently.