Premium
Resource Mobilization and Political Opportunity in the Nicaraguan Revolution:
Author(s) -
Cuzán Alfred G.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1991.tb02490.x
Subject(s) - marxist philosophy , politics , ideology , resource mobilization , political mobilization , mobilization , political science , social revolution , urbanization , political economy , front (military) , period (music) , resource (disambiguation) , sociology , social movement , economic growth , economics , geography , law , meteorology , computer network , physics , acoustics , computer science
A bstract . A previous paper in this Journal presented a resource mobilization‐political opportunities paradigm about violent revolution in the Third World. Key propositions put forward in the previous paper find empirical support in a study of the Nicaraguan revolution. In keeping with the paradigm, the Nicaraguan revolution occurred after a period of economic growth during which urbanization, school enrollments, and the size of the middle class increased. Also consistent with the paradigm was the existence of an organization of professional revolutionaries espousing a Marxist‐Leninist ideology which received resources from abroad, especially from Castro's Cuba. The Sandinista National Liberation Front put into practice a number of strategems which the paradigm considers to be promising in a revolution, including staging paralyzing acts of institutional disruption , enlisting the aid of social and economic elites , and deceiving the public and its allies about the true goals of the organization. Also, the FSLN was adept at exploiting political opportunities and realignments which left the Somoza regime weakened and vulnerable.