Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Movement Impact on Public Policies

通过对同性恋运动及其对鸡奸合法化的影响的定量历史调查，这篇博士论文研究项目考察了社会运动能够成功影响公共政策或法律的条件。社会运动通常是为了以某种方式改变社会而发展的，但关于社会运动是否有能力产生政治变化的研究很少。这个项目借鉴了社会运动的资源动员和政治过程模型以及国家的社会学理论，将检验运动政策成功的理论，涉及三个广泛的因素：运动的政治背景、运动的力量和激进主义以及运动的文化反对。美国同性恋运动始于1969年的石墙起义。这场运动的一个重要目标是废除州级鸡奸法。鸡奸法将成年人之间自愿的特定性行为定为犯罪，通常是口交和肛交，并经常被用作剥夺同性恋者其他权利的理由。事件历史分析将被用来检验从1969年到1997年这些法律非刑事化的政治背景、运动特征和反对意见在一段时间和跨州的重要性。

Through a quantitative, historical investigation of the gay and lesbian movement and its influence on the decriminalization of sodomy, this doctoral dissertation research project examines the conditions under which a social movement can successfully influence public policy or law. Social movements customarily develop in order to change society in some way, yet there is little research on the ability or inability of social movements to generate political change. Drawing from resource mobilization and political process models of social movements and sociological theories of the state, this project will test a theory of movement policy success involving three broad factors: the political context surrounding the movement, movement strength and activism, and cultural opposition to the movement. The U.S. gay and lesbian movement began in 1969 with the Stonewall Rebellion. An important goal of the movement is the removal of state-level sodomy laws. Sodomy laws criminalize specific sexual acts, usually oral and anal sex, between consenting adults and are often used as the justification for denying other rights to homosexuals. Event history analysis will be used to examine, over time and across states, the important of the political context, movement characteristics, and opposition on the decriminalization of these laws, from 1969 to 1997.