Individuals in the Policy Process

The Power of Individual Action

POSC 315: Public Policy Analysis
Dr. David P. Adams

Part 3 of 3: Unofficial Policy Actors

Where We've Been

Week 1: Interest Groups

  • Organized collective action, lobbying and advocacy

Week 2: Social Movements

  • Mass mobilization, collective identity, public pressure

This Week: Individual Actors

  • Personal agency in policy change
  • Direct action strategies

Individual Impact on Policy

Direct Action Methods - Demonstrations and protests - Civil disobedience - Public communication

Institutional Engagement

  • Contacting officials
  • Electoral participation
  • Policy entrepreneurship

Political Violence and Democracy

Recent Context:

  • Violence against unofficial policy actors
  • Attacks on elected officials
  • Violence in community spaces
Critical Distinction: Democratic systems provide legitimate channels for individual action. Political violence undermines democratic participation.

Why Nonviolent Action?

  • Practical: Violence delegitimizes causes and invites repression
  • Moral: Respects human dignity and maintains ethical high ground
  • Strategic: Builds broader coalitions and sustains movements

Case Study: Letter from Birmingham Jail

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny."

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Historical Context

Written: April 16, 1963

Response to "A Call for Unity"
Eight Alabama clergymen criticized civil rights demonstrations and called for patience

Written from Birmingham City Jail
Arrested for demonstrating without a permit as part of the Birmingham Campaign

The Reality of Political Violence

King's Movement Faced:

  • Bombings (Birmingham's "Bombingham" nickname)
  • Assassinations and church bombings
  • Beatings of protesters
  • King's own assassination in 1968
Yet the movement succeeded through nonviolence.

Direct Action Methods

King's Approach:

  • Nonviolent direct action
  • Civil disobedience
  • Public demonstrations
  • Strategic communication

These methods require discipline, training, and commitment—they are not passive or weak.

The Four Basic Steps

  1. Collection of Facts — Documenting injustice and building evidence base
  2. Negotiation — Attempting dialogue and seeking peaceful resolution

Even when negotiation fails, it establishes legitimacy for next steps.

The Four Basic Steps (continued)

  1. Self-Purification — Training in nonviolence and preparation for conflict
  2. Direct Action — Creating productive tension and forcing negotiation while maintaining nonviolent discipline

Self-Purification: Why It Matters

Facing Violence Without Responding With Violence

Protesters trained to absorb attacks and practiced responses to provocation

This preparation:

  • Prevented movement from being discredited
  • Won public sympathy
  • Demonstrated moral superiority of cause

Creating "Productive Tension"

King's Strategy: Force society to confront injustice and make the status quo untenable

Without violence:

  • Sit-ins at lunch counters
  • Boycotts of segregated businesses
  • Marches through hostile areas
  • Filling jails through mass arrests

Individual Policy Impact Strategies

Public Opinion Influence

  • Moral persuasion
  • Media engagement
  • Coalition building

Institutional Pressure

  • Legal challenges
  • Direct negotiation
  • Electoral influence

Social Movement Leadership

Individual leaders matter, but they:

  • Work through organizations
  • Build collective power
  • Use legitimate democratic means

Key activities:

  • Vision articulation
  • Strategy development
  • Movement coordination

Contemporary Individual Action

Traditional Methods

  • Demonstrations and marches
  • Boycotts
  • Direct communication
  • Voting and electoral engagement

Contemporary Individual Action (continued)

Modern Tools

  • Social media activism
  • Digital organizing
  • Online advocacy
  • Crowdfunding campaigns

The Limits of Individual Action

Individuals face constraints:

  • Limited resources
  • Risk of retaliation
  • Difficulty sustaining attention
  • Need for institutional support

This is why individuals form groups, groups build movements, and movements engage institutions.

Political Violence vs. Political Action

Violence:

  • Undermines democratic norms
  • Delegitimizes causes
  • Invites escalation and repression
  • Narrows possible support

Political Violence vs. Political Action (continued)

Democratic Action:

  • Uses legitimate channels
  • Builds broad coalitions
  • Creates sustainable change
  • Strengthens democratic institutions

Policy Entrepreneurship

Individual Impact Through:

  • Issue identification
  • Solution development
  • Coalition building
  • Policy window recognition
  • Implementation support

Operating within the system, not against it.

Protecting Democratic Participation

Democracy requires physical safety for participants

We need robust protection for:

  • Protesters and activists
  • Elected officials
  • Community gathering spaces

Democratic systems only work when participation is safe.

Key Discussion Points

Individual vs Collective Action

  • Role of leadership
  • Movement building
  • Strategic choices

Moral Authority

  • Personal sacrifice
  • Ethical frameworks
  • Public persuasion

Key Discussion Points (continued)

Risk and Safety

  • When is action worth the risk?
  • How do we protect democratic actors?

Policy Change Process

  • Direct vs indirect effects
  • Short vs long-term impact

Key Discussion Points (continued)

Legitimate vs Illegitimate Action

  • Where are the boundaries?
  • When is civil disobedience justified?
  • Why violence fails in democracies

Understanding Individual Impact

"Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God."

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Individual Action Shapes Policy Through

  • Direct pressure on institutions
  • Public opinion influence
  • Movement leadership
  • Moral persuasion

Key Takeaway: Individual action requires strategic, sustained, nonviolent effort to create policy change.

Lessons from Recent Events

Political violence:

  • Silences voices rather than amplifying them
  • Weakens democracy for everyone
  • Makes legitimate policy debate harder

Lessons from Recent Events (continued)

The civil rights movement succeeded because:

  • It maintained nonviolent discipline
  • It used democratic channels
  • It built moral authority
  • It created sustainable change

Discussion Questions

  1. How do King's four steps apply to contemporary policy issues?

  2. Why did nonviolent action succeed where violence would have failed?

  3. How do we protect democratic participation while allowing vigorous debate?

Discussion Questions (continued)

  1. What makes some individual actions more effective than others?

  2. How has recent political violence affected policy debates?

For Further Reflection

  • What are the legitimate boundaries of individual action in democracy?

  • How can individuals recognize and capitalize on "policy windows"?

  • What role does personal sacrifice play in effective policy advocacy?

For Further Reflection (continued)

  • How do we distinguish between productive tension and dangerous escalation?

  • What protections do democratic systems need to ensure safe participation?

Connecting the Three Weeks

Interest Groups → Organized, resourced, institutional access

Social Movements → Mass mobilization, collective identity, public pressure

Individual Action → Personal agency, moral authority, entrepreneurship

All three work together in democratic policy change—and all depend on nonviolent, legitimate participation.