Social Actions?

Social actions can take many forms, grass root movements, political referendums, protessts, letter-writing campaigns, voting, civil disobediance. Discuss of social actions and their purpose. do any or all of these forms of social involvement result in postiive policy changes? how?

Social Actions?
I think social actions are a product of a country's need for change. Grass root political movements are a way a cause can be heard without a lot of money. They are important to citizens because this is how your average person is able to make a political stand. Protests and civil disobediance are both important because we as Americans have a right to question government and this is the best way for our voices to be heard.
Reply:Why does this look like a test question or a topic for a paper?





Are you too busy to do your own work?





What are the repercussions you, and later, society will feel by you not taking seriously the study of the topic at hand?





Are you ready to take personal responsibility for that?
Reply:All of these actions have their place and can be very effective tools in creating change. In Massachusetts a law improving services for people with disabilities was passed using a variety of actions. From letter and phone campaigns to community meetings, rallies at the state house, you name it, we used it and it was passed. Most civil rights laws are a direct result of social actions.
Reply:These activities you list are the grain of democracy. Whether or not those in power always pay attention to the letter writers and etc.--partaking in these activities is a form of freedom and exercising these freedoms is a display of democracy. So it may not always have a positive affect on policy, but it has a positive affect on the country, (i think) if it opens dialogue on a particular subject that was unthought of before.
Reply:Absolutely they do! Civil disobediance for example freed India from British Imperialism (Ghandi). Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used it effectively to advanced the cause for people of color in America %26amp; to eliminate segregation. We certainly have seen how voting can change social policy with this mid-term election. I'm sure that there will be more checks %26amp; balances in current American government when the new Congress begins.
Reply:The ONLY thing that really has ever worked to evoke change is change itself! If a change is to take effect, the people who wish to see the change must do what is necessary to get their point accross to the other side. When all else fails, a boycott is most effective if it is done on a large scale in a way that completely immobilizes %26amp; financially cripples a corporate structure or individual. I grew up in the 60's %26amp; we had many boycotts which were successful. The problem was that we didn't go far enough, because we left out boycotting the subsidiary companies that the large corporations has used to hide their money in! By the time we figured out what they had done, it was too late to do anything about it that was WITHIN the boundaries of the law. Some of my generation DID decide to go beyond those boundaries %26amp; it became a mess for ALL of us! Now, I can see some of the mistakes, but I can also see some of the successes of our protest movements. We were the first generation to explore any %26amp; all possibilities that came our way. We had no fear of death or of the "Establishment" that educated us in an atmosphere of FREEDEOM! Most of us were 1st %26amp; 2nd generation Americans whose Families came to America to be free of persecution.
Reply:Yes, just ask someone who grew up in the 60's. the worst decade in America.