The Importance of Voluntary Associations for Guerrilla Movements

The question I examine in this article is why is it that under certain circumstances a guerrilla movement succeeds while under others it fails? The hypotheses that I shall present below are the greater the number and variety of voluntary associations supporting the guerrilla movement, compared with the number of associations supporting the regime, the greater is the guerillas’ level of success. Voluntary associations can fulfill the guerrilla's basic needs: resources, organizational ability, and obligation. Achieving these needs assist the guerrilla in realizing: population support; inter-class allies; military force; governmental function, which in turn allows the realization of the political objectives.