Methodological review proposes an integrative mixed-methods framework for protest policing, highlighting the need to link situational dynamics, institutional strategies, and societal discourses.
Considering increasing protest activities and ongoing debates surrounding the “shrinking spaces” for civil society engagement, the field of protest policing in Germany is gaining considerable societal relevance. This article synthesizes the international state of research on historical developments, situational dynamics, actor perspectives, and discursive processes in protest policing. Building on this foundation, the contribution advocates for a systematic mixed-methods approach to protest policing research that integrates four key analytical levels: situational interaction dynamics, individual dispositions, institutional strategies and knowledge systems, and societal discourses and interpretive frameworks. The triangulation of diverse methodological approaches enables an adequate examination of the relational interconnections between situational dynamics, individual and institutional perspectives, and media as well as societal interpretive patterns.
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Struck et al. (2026) studied this question.
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