The concept distinguishes these forms of contention from the everyday acts of resistance explored by James C.
interstate warfare, and forms of contention employed entirely within institutional settings, such as elections or sports.
For example, Tilly argues that the nature of contentious politics changed fairly dramatically with the birth of social movements in 18th-century Europe.
The concept of contentious politics was developed throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century by its most prominent scholars in the United States: Sidney Tarrow, Charles Tilly, and Doug McAdam.
One of the primary goals of these three authors was to advance the explanation of these phenomena and other contentious politics under a single research agenda.