Summary-Responce Essay

Almakhmari 1

Almakhmari 2

Almakhmari 3

Ahmad Almakhmari

Asp032

8 February 2018

summary response “Want to Have an Effective Protest? Disrupt, Expert Says”

In the article “Want to Have an Effective Protest? Disrupt, Expert Says ” by Dan Sicorsky states Douglas McAdam's views on the effectiveness of protests. The article claims that even though the method to make changes in existing power systems is the same, the way that individuals disturb business has to change. To test which changes, need to be done, I agree with the author that demonstrations are much less efficient now and pushback is one of the most effective ways to make changes.

The article presents the main ideas suggested by Douglas McAdam. The professor's theory is based on his personal experience, he participated in the Vietnam anti-war movement. Because of that he began to study Sociology and wrote 18 books and 85 articles that made him a respected professor. However, the article shows that to be a successful any movement should interrupt business. Also, the author shows why these days all demonstrations are not such influential as they were earlier. The last part of the article discusses concrete solutions to the problem, outlining the most important principles of effective movements.

The first point from the article I would like to discuss is that to be really effective, any movement should disturb business. The author introduces several examples of the campaigns that were successful. Personally, I agree with the author that pushback is one of the most effective ways to make changes. Furthermore, it may be unfriendly to go against others, people should consider which situations worth to take risk, and only then take actions.

One more idea suggested by the author is that, nowadays, all protests are not such effective as they were in previous years. I agree that demonstrations are much less efficient now. The main reason is that the time has changed, and there are much better ways to make peace. Even more, individuals recognize different movements, and government learned effective strategies how to ignore protesters' actions.

Then, McAdam shows examples of really powerful protests, such as publishing secret information and other private issues related to governments and politicians. He states that to be effective, protesters should produce a kind of pushback without making a violent behavior. Talking about myself, I have noticed that nonviolent behavior helps me to find an agreement with others, it may be tough for me to find an agreement with my family. There is only one effective way to change the situation is by explaining my point peacefully and listen to others' arguments. Then, we can discuss and find an agreement.

In conclusion, the article gives an insight into the politics of protests. The article gives examples and reasons, the author succeeded to prove that nonviolent protests campaigns have a stronger change to peace. Nonviolent movements can surprisingly make changes, while violent tactics can have the opposite effect.

Sicorsky, Dan. “Want to Have an Effective Protest? Disrupt, Expert Says.” Washington University Political Review, 1 Nov. 2016.