Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Participation in Loyalist Protest Activities in Northern Ireland

Cultural protest actions are used by political actors around the world to achieve political objectives, but existing political science theories cannot fully explain their dynamics. In particular, the current literature does not account for why individuals participate in actions that have significant political consequences but that do not offer material inducements for participants or social punishments for non-participants. The aim of this dissertation is understand who chooses to participate in politically-relevant protest actions and why.