Political dissent is a form of protest against specific policies, political decisions, or even a political system and culture in general. It is any action pursuing political change that operates outside common decisionmaking processes of a political society. It challenges established forms of political communication and can be individual or collective, spontaneous or organized. Dissent typically takes a moral ground and challenges legitimacy of political actions, programs, and institutions. It is studied, therefore, in social and political science, sociolegal studies, and legal philosophy.

Political systems of modern complex democratic societies are based on the circulation of power between government and opposition. Political opposition participates in the institutional framework of decisionmaking process and acts on the assumption of eventual movement from opposition to government. Modern party politics ...

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