Editing Accountability (section)

=== Political protests ===
Political changes after protests can be the result of the protests ''per se'', or symptoms of shifts in political preferences underneath the observable phenomena of the protests. One study of the [[Tea Party movement]] in the United States has shown that protests ''per se'' have an impact on political change.<ref name="Madestam 1633–1685"/>

Other scholars studied the effect of protests on political changes in developing countries. Mass protests instigated by economic hardship and political repression occurred in 16 [[Sub-Saharan Africa|sub-Saharan]] African countries, and 21 governments in the region implemented significant political reforms, such as the adoption of multi-party elections.<ref name="Bratton 419"/> Authoritarian regimes in Africa distorted the market and reduced the cost of farm produce in favor of urban workers at the cost of rural farmers in the 1980s to prevent urban unrest, which is more visible and easier to mobilize than rural protests.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bates|first=Robert|title=Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies|publisher=University of California Press|year=1981}}</ref>