Civic Groups

Members of government organizations have shown a common trait; don’t fix what appears to be working. For citizens and governments this means if no one or not enough individuals are concerned with particular procedures or laws, there is no need to change it. For example, in the United States, women were denied the right to vote until 1920. It wasn’t until a large part of the general public implored the government to change the laws to allow woman the right to vote, that the government decided to fix something they previously perceived was not broken. The civic group American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was the driving force behind the 19th Amendment.

Groups like the AWSA, LULAC, and MUDD can educate citizens on their experiences and, in most cases, their sufferings due to certain laws and procedures.  These views and experiences can inform citizens that there are people suffering in many different ways to these laws. The AWSA informed citizens that women want the right to vote, but were denied. Before this the consensus of the public was that women belonged at home and had no desire or mind to vote.  The AWSA challenged this view and helped persuade many people of the public to voice their own opinion.  All governments are ultimately given power by the people. If enough of the population voices the same opinion, the government would be forced to change their rules. Otherwise the population greatly outnumbers the government’s control and can overthrow them.

The easiest governments for a civic group to operate in are a constitutional democracy.  In these governments, the government doesn’t try to shut down non-violent groups. They allow the groups to do any action that doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights or breaks any laws.  These kind of governments are also the easily persuaded governments out of constitutional democracies, authoritarianism, and totalitarianism.

Authoritarianism governments are highly corrupt governments that oppose all civic groups. These governments are hardly persuaded by any groups’ views that differ from their own.  Due to their highly corrupt natures, civic groups could easily disappear overnight, violently if necessary.  Unless the entire population believes in these views, these governments will try to shut down any group that threatens their support in the population.