Civil Disobedience

Introduction Movements around the globe have stemmed from peaceful beginnings, and in the United States alone, many prominent peaceful movements have brought about some of the most prominent reforms put forth by the government. Being that no real results can be expected from mere picketing and passive proclamations from a megaphone, these demonstrations often break the law in some way, explaining where the label of disobedience comes from. Civil disobedience is an increasing practice worldwide, and it is proven to be exceptionally effective when put to the test against oppressive regimes, unjust laws, and stoic governments. It has been practiced by some of the most influential leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States such
Dr. Erica Chenoweth, the Associate Dean for Research at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, specializes in studies concerning international political violence and injustice. Her research into this topic has yielded data that sufficiently shows the positive effects of civil resistance compared to violent protests (Chenoweth, 2015). Figure 1 represents the comparison between violent demonstrations and civil demonstrations and the successes that each method achieved. It can be concluded from this analysis that the success of civil campaigns is greater than that of violent campaigns; from 1900 to 2006, nonviolent campaigns have been more than twice as successful as those utilizing violence. If civil disobedience is utilized in the St. Louis community more laws will be passed that will improve the lives of those who advocated for them. Secondly, the safety of its citizens should be one of any sensible government’s primary goals. With that being said, the level of safety that is afforded using peaceful methods of protest opposed to violent means is enough to make any government at least consider advocating for civil campaigns. While no government would encourage its people to challenge it, prominent organizations striving for change in the government would encourage this challenge in order to further its cause. Thus, the NAACP would
Louis area relies on several key components. The willingness of the St. Louis public that participate in protests to try civil disobedience is the defining factor that will make or break this proposal. However, this level of willingness can increase with the endorsement of large corporations and influential organizations. In his article “Recent Theories of Civil Disobedience: An Anti-Legal Turn,” William Scheuerman analyzes how those participating in civil disobedience technically avoid violating the law. He speaks on how close reading and understanding of laws and regulations allows for protestors to test the law, disprove the law, thus creating a change in the government (Scheuerman, 2015). This fact allows for those participating in civil resistance to rest easy knowing that they are not necessarily violating any laws that hold Constitutional value. It’s this group of people that are most likely already out protesting in one way or another. These individuals are likely affiliated with an organization of some sort that they are protesting on the behalf of or are protesting with those who are like-minded. In her working paper for the USAID, Chenoweth relates the success of civil organizations and campaigns to the reliance on large groups of people (Chenoweth, 2015). Thus, organizations that have a large number of members would have the most success with using civil disobedience as a viable means of