Abstract: As a product of social structural change， online group events are considered the self-organization and resistance arising from the grassroots. From the epistemological point of view， it is impossible to explain and analyze their practical basis merely from the perspectives of psychological characteristics and communication channels， and it is only through establishing a political vision that their inherent logic can be actually grasped. By taking Mcadams political process theory as the framework， we can find that political opportunity amplification， endogenous tissue mobilization and Internet users cognitive liberation work together to promote the generation of online group events while the interaction among external organizations further accelerates the in-depth development. In addition， this paper also introduces such factors as discourse， emotion and culture as a complement and challenge to cognitive liberation in the analytical framework.

Key words: political process theory, online group event, confrontational politics