Antigrowth politics or piecemeal resistance? Citizen opposition to Olympic-related economic growth

Regime theory predicts that opponents of a regime's pursuit of economic development will have limited prospects for success. Some scholars, however, contend that evidence of widespread growth control movements poses a challenge to regime theory. The authors assess the viability of growth opponents when confronting an active growth regime under conditions that should enhance the prospects for the development of an antigrowth movement by examining opposition to Olympic-related growth in Los Angeles (1984), Atlanta (1996), and Salt Lake City (2002). Despite favorable circumstances for developing an opposition coalition, little evidence of viable antigrowth movements is found. Rather, opposition is better characterized as piecemeal resistance.