Replication Data for: "Does State Repression Spark Protests?"

Does physical surveillance hinder or foster anti-regime resistance? A common view holds that surveillance prevents resistance by providing regimes with high-quality intelligence on dissident networks, and by instilling fear in citizens. We contrast this view using formerly classified data from Communist Poland. We show that communities exposed to secret police officers were more likely to organize protests, but also engaged in less sabotage. To ensure that the correlation is causal, we use an instrumental variable strategy, which exploits the exogenous assignment of Catholic “spy priests” to local communities. To make sense of the unexpected finding, we draw on qualitative interviews and archival sources. We document that Poland’s comprehensive use of surveillance created widespread anger as well as an incentive for citizens to reveal their true loyalties, thus facilitating anti-regime collective action. Once on the streets, protesters refrained from sabotage to signal their political motivation to bystanders and authorities alike.