Dynamics of contention applied to variance in agency

This dissertation studies dynamical explanations underlying the variability of protest activities within the setting of contentious politics through the lens of the Dynamics of Contention Research Project. It generates dynamical explanations to already known observations in the Philippines during the autocratic rule of Ferdinand Marcos. The results helped specify additional determinants working together with mechanisms and processes to generate a specific performance outcome, and also led to new contextual insights contesting dominant held beliefs about the role and weight of the nonviolent uprising culminating in the Yellow Revolution.