Social Movements: What They Are, Some Examples of American Social Movements, and Impacts of Social Movements and Protests on American Democracy
Social movements are, according to Wikipedia ("Social Movements", March 14, 2006); "a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals and/or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out a social change." Social movements are more common in Western nations (e.g., the United States; Canada; Europe) than in many other parts of the world. This is because, as the article "Social Movements" (Wikipedia) also explains: "The freedom of expression, education and relative economic independence prevalent in the modern Western culture is responsible for the unprecedented number and scope of various contemporary social movements." In this essay, I will explore what social movements are; name and briefly describe some of America's most important social movements; and summarize and explain the roles and impacts of social movements and the significance of protest as a key aspect of social movements, on American democracy. In his book Social Movements, 1768-2004 Tilley (2004) argues that there are three key identifiable components of social movements. These are (1) "campaigns": e.g., sustained, organized public efforts, in which social movement participants ta
Within this essay, I have explored what social movements are, and have described some of America's most important social movements: e.g., Abolition; Women's Suffrage; the Civil Rights Movement; and the Women's Rights Movement. I have also summarized and explained roles and impacts of these social movements and the significance of protest (e.g., marches; demonstrations; sit-ins, and other forms of public protest) as a key aspect of social movements, in order to build group cohesiveness and support, and (as Tilley puts it) to publicly demonstrate the worthiness; unity; numbers, and commitment [WUNC] (Tilley, 2004) of a social movement. Social movements and protests impact American democracy to the extent that they succeed in their aims of changing existing laws and public policies. Further, as Polletta (2004) suggests, social movements have the best chance of reaching their goals by practicing participatory democracy: the very element of American life and decision-making processes social movements themselves wish to bring about, to achieve greater equality for all. Tarrow (1992) describes social movements as "collective challenges by people with common purposes and solidarity in sustained interactions with elites, opponents and authorities" (p. 4). Social movements are distinct from political parties and interest groups, since the latter, while possessing "common purposes and solidarity" are not characterized by "sustained interactions with elites, opponents and authorities" (Power in Movement: Collective Action, Social Movements and Politics). In 1835 and in 1840, Alexis de Tocqueville, a foreign visitor to the United States, and a keen observer of American-style democracy visiting the United States from France, and then writing about his impressions, wrote that equality is a cornerstone of American-style democracy and as such, a uniquely American concept: one Americans themselves greatly treasure. As Tocqueville wrote, for example: "No novelty in the United States struck me more vividly during my stay there than the e
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1387
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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