First of all, protest, formerly the purview of the disadvantaged, is now embraced by the affluent and well-educated. Secondly, modern protest tends to be planned and well-organized activity. Lastly, protest is largely reformist, rather than revolutionary in character. The objective of protest is rarely the overthrow of the existing social or political order since the well-educated and financially comfortable protest participants are usually the beneficiaries of this order. There has also been a degree of institutionalization, groups like citizens lobbies and environmental groups provide a base for organization of future protest.
Empirical evidence supports the resource model.
Those who protest are only slightly more likely to be politically dissatisfied than those who don't and as was mentioned above the educated and affluent are well represented among protestors. But at the same time it may be going to far in asserting that protest is like any other form of political involvement. Age is the strongest single predictor of protest activity in the four nations Dalton examines. As U.S. citizens it is difficult to fully appreciate this, for parties, while important, are less dominant than in other nations. Candidates in most European nations are selected by the parties and elected as party representatives, not as individuals and a large proportion of Europeans still vote the party slate.