The effect of protest management strategies on protesting activity and social tension: a mathematical perspective

TL;DR

This paper models how different protest management strategies influence protest activity and social tension, using mathematical analysis of traveling wave solutions to understand protest dynamics.

Contribution

It extends a previous mathematical model to include protest management strategies and analyzes their effects on protest wave stability and characteristics.

Findings

Proven existence and stability of traveling wave solutions in protest models.

Identified how management strategies alter protest wave properties.

Provided a framework for categorizing protests based on wave analysis.

Abstract

Protest activity, a constitutionally protected right in the United States under the First Amendment, serves as a key tool for individuals with limited individual influence to unite collectively and amplify their impact. Despite its legal recognition, the historical interaction between the government and protesters has been complex. In this study, we extend a model proposed in arXiv:1502.04725 [math.AP] to incorporate the influence of protest management strategies. Our research establishes the existence and stability of traveling wave solutions, supported by both theoretical analyses and numerical simulations. We delve into the impact of two distinct protest management approaches on the qualitative and semi-quantitative characteristics of these traveling waves. These metrics can aid in categorizing different types of protests.