In Chapter six, David Meyer discusses and analyzes civil disobedience and how it relates to protest and social movements. The chapter looks into two different forms of civil disobedience. One form of disobedience is through a collection of people and the other is more individualistic, which is justified through some form of “higher law.” Collective disobedience goes through cycles, which is similar to most movements in America because there areso many people with different beliefs and values. In order for someone to disobey the law they have to have some passion for the cause they are protesting over. Now, a citizens level of civil disobedience depends on how passionate they feel towards what they are protesting, which can make variate and create cycles of protest where sometimes the protests are strong and powerful and other times not so much. According to David Meyers, the difference between individualistic and the collection of disobedience is that individuals chose to work alone because they have a seperate set of beliefs that relate to a “higher law.” For example, a protestor could believe that a constitutional law is contigent rather than absolute because they believe that people should answer to a higher judge, such as God or the word of the bible. This individual protestor could work in a group, but would need to find people who share the same beliefs to the same extent as they do.
When the writers of the Constitution gathered together to discuss the government of the United States, they agreed on the idea that they wanted to “Stop the development of divisive and potentially disruptive political conflict between the government and its challengers” (113). However, the American government allows access and it also suggest interpretation can be made from the citizens within the United States. Citizens can view a law unjust and decide to protest for what they believe in, but the government regulates its citizens and wishes that people challenge the government less. Civil Disobedience is unwanted by the government and even other citizens, but does civil disobedience suggest that the American government needs to regulate how open the laws are to interpretation and questioning by the citizens?
Ben Edwards
You raised an interesting question about the government’s response to civil disobedience. Although my comment does not directly answer it, I think Meyer makes a good point in the chapter when he said that state tolerance makes civil disobedience safer for people to engage in but also diminishes the efficacy of the tactic (118).
I don’t know if higher regulation would eradicate civil disobedience. I also think it is important to note that there’s a difference between civil disobedience and protest because not all people who protest knowingly and willingly violate laws for their higher purpose.