Why do individuals participate in violent demonstrations,
given the potentially high
costs and risks of such behavior? Rather than assuming that l
ocal “masses” line up be-
hind manipulative entrepreneurs, this paper directly inve
stigates the micro-foundations
of individual participation, focusing on sub-national var
iation in contemporary Nige-
ria. Individual involvement in localized violence is explo
red using survey responses from
the Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS), survey data on
self-reported individual
participation in violent demonstrations drawn from Afroba
rometer, and unique data
on characteristics of Nigeria’s 773 Local Government Areas
(LGAs). This study finds
that individuals who are more closely linked into local-lev
el social networks, and those
who live in localities with no clear religious majority are m
ore likely to be willing to
participate in violent demonstrations. For example, indiv
iduals who regularly attend
community meetings are significantly more likely to claim th
ey would participate in
violence than those who do not.