Major Episodes of Contention: Global Campaigns 1955-2018

From 1955 to 2018, this dataset catalogs 2,734 reformist and maximalist contentious episodes worldwide. It was created by Erica Chenoweth and relies on English-language sources to capture episodes lasting over a week with at least a thousand participants. The data allows for differentiation and comparability between campaigns based on size, goals, duration, and outcomes.

Use Cases

• Analyze campaign outcomes based on variables like defection and repression by the incumbent government.
• Compare the duration and size of like and unlike contentious campaigns globally.
• Model the onset of reformist versus maximalist episodes based on historical and contextual factors.

Strengths

• Contains 2,734 episodes, providing a substantial sample for analysis.
• Covers a long temporal range from 1955 to 2018.
• Includes variables for campaign classification, such as size, goals, duration, and outcomes.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Relies solely on English-language sources, which may introduce reporting bias.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Harvard Dataverse

Collection Method

Compiled from English-language sources reporting on contentious episodes.

Time Range

1955-2018

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-06 18:33:45; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global