Sample Argument Essay Civil Disobedience PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Sample Argument Essay Civil Disobedience PDF

Description

Develop an argument that explains whether civil disobedience is an effective or ineffective way to achieve policy change. Final: Civil disobedience is a political and social concept used to excite political change. By definition, it is the peaceful refusal to comply with laws that are deemed unjust. Civil disobedience aims to change laws and legislation peacefully. Although it does not guarantee change, civil disobedience is an effective way to achieve and take steps towards policy change because it creates political tension and puts policymakers in difficult situations. The Declaration of Independence clearly displays civil disobedience as it takes issue with the unjust treatment of the colonists by the crown and peacefully fights back. By officially stating that they are making themselves independent because of unequal treatment, the colonists are embodying civil disobedience. Following the Declaration is the Revolutionary War, which is what ultimately won American Independence; however, the colonists' civil disobedience against the British crown proved to be very effective as it helped take steps towards achieving American independence, providing a solid framework for them to establish their own government and policies upon. The Declaration of Independence was able to create political tension within the colonies that forced the British into a tough spot--do the British let go of the American colonies or should they try and keep control despite having a deficit?--proving itself to be a successful attempt at civil disobedience and ultimately bringing about the direct policy change that the American colonies had desired. Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail develops what he views as the purpose of Civil Disobedience: a peaceful way to attack the injustices imposed by higher authorities. Dr. King was imprisoned because he participated in nonviolent demonstrations against segregation. He used civil disobedience because of the unjust, racist laws and society that he and other African Americans lived in. That same society punished him for acting out, even though he did so peacefully. This fact of society attempting to silence Dr. King and his note of the disconcerted clergymen in his Letter show that he had been successfully creating political tensions and was putting policymakers into bad positions. If he did not have this effect, then he wouldn’t have been seen as a threat and thus not put in jail. Dr. King was jailed because of the political tensions that his actions of civil disobedience created; however, it did not solve anything for the policymakers as he continued to apply pressure on policymakers after his sentence. As Dr. King says, creating tension is the only way to ensure that higher authorities will take negotiations seriously and actually consider making the policy changes that are being demanded. For example, when the Birmingham Church tried negotiations with the leaders of Birmingham’s economic community before the Church began to protest, they were met with promises that ended up broken because the economic leaders weren’t being held accountable in any serious manner. Tension is accountability. Civil disobedience creates tension; therefore, civil disobedience is a way to hold policymakers accountable. Dr. King’s jail sentence and the negotiation failure of the Birmingham Church prove this by juxtaposing the outcomes when there is tension and when there isn’t. This, too, proves that civil disobedience is an effective way to achieve and take steps towards policy change because it creates political tension and puts policymakers in difficult situations. Both the Declaration of Independence and Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail demonstrate how civil disobedience is an effective way to achieve policy change by creating political tension and putting policymakers in difficult situations that force them to create political

Develop an argument that explains whether civil disobedience is an effective or ineffective way to achieve policy change. change. Both documents argue that the people have a right to disobey laws that are unjust in the form of disobedience which is what the American colonists did when they refused to pay tax stamps for paper in violation of the Stamp Act and what Dr. King did when he was protesting the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham. Although their actions could not guarantee political change in their benefit, it brought awareness to the issue and backed their opponents, in this case the British Parliament and Birmingham government, into a corner where they would have to consider the changes the protesters are fighting for through civil disobedience....