AP® Comparative Government and Politics review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/comp-gov/units/4/4-5)
Unit 4 · Topic 4.5
4.5 Impact of Social Movements and Interest Groups
Social movements are broad, often loosely organized efforts to change society or policy; interest groups are organized to push for a specific interest. Both pressure governments, and how a regime responds to them tells you a lot about the regime.
Key terms
- social movement
- interest group
- grassroots
- Green Movement
- Zapatistas
- MEND
Movements vs. interest groups
A social movement is large, often grassroots (built from ordinary people up) and focused on broad change, like more democracy, ethnic rights or women's rights. Movements use protests, campaigns and social media.
An interest group is a formal organization that represents a particular group or cause, like a labor union, business federation or professional body, and lobbies officials. Interest groups usually work inside the system; movements often start outside it.
Movements in the course countries
Movements have pressed for indigenous rights, a fairer share of oil revenue, clean elections and equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation.
| Country | Movement | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Iran | Green Movement, 2009 | Mass protests after a disputed presidential election; crushed, leaders put under house arrest |
| Iran | “Woman, Life, Freedom,” 2022 | Protests after a young woman died in morality police custody; met with mass arrests |
| Mexico | Zapatistas (EZLN), 1994 | Indigenous uprising in Chiapas; led to talks and later indigenous rights reforms |
| Mexico | Ayotzinapa families, from 2014 | Protests over 43 missing students; pressure for accountability |
| Nigeria | MOSOP, from 1990 | Ogoni movement against oil pollution and for a share of oil wealth; leader Ken Saro-Wiwa executed in 1995 |
| Nigeria | MEND, from 2006 | Armed Niger Delta group attacked oil facilities; many fighters accepted a 2009 amnesty |
| Nigeria | #EndSARS, 2020 | Youth protests against police abuse; the police unit was disbanded |
| Nigeria | Boko Haram, from 2009 | Armed Islamist movement seeking an Islamic state in the north; the state has responded mainly with military force |
| Russia | Election protests, 2011–12 | Large protests after disputed Duma elections; followed by tighter protest laws |
| Russia | Protests against a 2013 law | The law banned promoting “nontraditional sexual relations” to minors; small protests outside the Duma ended in detentions |
| China | Tiananmen Square, 1989; Hong Kong, 2019 | Both suppressed; Hong Kong's extradition bill was withdrawn but a 2020 security law followed |
Interest groups
In the UK, groups like the Confederation of British Industry (business), the Trades Union Congress (labor) and the British Medical Association (doctors) lobby ministers and Parliament openly. In Nigeria, the Nigeria Labour Congress has organized national strikes over fuel prices and wages. In China and Iran, most organized interests operate through state-approved bodies (see 4.6).
In Mexico, business groups and unions lobby Congress and the president. In Russia, large companies tied to the state have privileged access to decision-makers.
Why some succeed
Grassroots movements start locally and can grow to regional, national or even international scale, as #EndSARS did through social media and protests abroad. Movements with little formal leadership are hard for police or the military to break up by arresting a few leaders. The same looseness can make it hard to win over the wider public or to negotiate with the government, since no one speaks for the whole movement.
Movements tend to win concessions when they are large and broad, when they split elites or the security forces, and when the regime fears the cost of repression. They tend to fail when the regime is united and willing to use force. Even failed movements can change political culture or shape later reforms.
Common mistakes
- Using “social movement” and “interest group” interchangeably. Movements are broad and loose; interest groups are formal and specific.
- Treating MOSOP and MEND as the same. MOSOP was mainly nonviolent; MEND was an armed group.
- Describing a movement without the government's response, which is usually what the question asks about.
On the exam
- Questions often ask how a regime responded to a movement and why. Explain the regime type's role (repression in Iran, concessions and reform in Mexico).
- Know at least one movement for each country, with its year.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 4.5 Impact of Social Movements and Interest Groups. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Much of Nigeria's oil comes from the Niger Delta, where many residents say they have suffered pollution and poverty while oil wealth flowed elsewhere. In 1990, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) began a nonviolent campaign for a share of oil revenue and environmental cleanup; its leader, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed by the military government in 1995.
From 2006, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) attacked oil facilities and kidnapped oil workers, cutting output sharply. In 2009, the federal government offered an amnesty that paid militants who gave up their weapons.
Secondary-style passage written for this practice set
MOSOP and MEND are best described as
Which difference between MOSOP and MEND is best supported by the passage?
The government's 2009 amnesty is best understood as an attempt to
Which statement best distinguishes a social movement from an interest group?
0 of 4 answered