On the issue of studying protest potential and real protest

This paper considers the issue of escalating protest sentiment in protest activity. Despite the fact that the study of social protest is quite a developed part of political sociology, there remains a lot of theoretical aspects that do not have a universally acceptable solution. One of them is the conditions under which protest sentiment develops into active protest. The article presents some results of the research into protest moods in the Vologda Oblast, which help define the presence of a stable group of carriers of protest sentiment (protest potential). The analysis of protest potential has found that the deterioration of social well-being observed in recent studies of public opinion of the Vologda Oblast residents does not, however, cause either a significant growth in protest sentiment or a growth in protest activity. Within the field of the research, the most effective way to mobilize individuals is the webs of trust. A search task is formulated for the further study of protest potential.