
Civil disobedience is a form of protest that involves the deliberate violation of the law for social purposes. Unlike other forms of protest, such as marches and picketing, civil disobedience is undertaken with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice. This means that participants in civil disobedience willfully and openly refuse to comply with a law that they find unjust, even if they know and accept the penalties and consequences of breaking that law. Civil disobedience is fundamentally an act of political protest because the noncompliance is intended to convey a message of discontent to the government, media, and public.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Type of protest | Civil disobedience |
| Definition | A particular form of political protest that is marked by the deliberate violation of the law for social purposes |
| Difference from other illegal acts | Civil disobedience is engaged in by people who commit the action knowing and accepting the penalties and consequences of breaking the law |
| Difference from other criminal offences | Civil disobedience is deliberate, principled and conscientious |
| Difference from protest marches, picketing and other kinds of legal protest | Civil disobedience is not merely conscious law breaking, but rather it is law breaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice |
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Civil disobedience
The act of civil disobedience is fundamentally an act of political protest. It is not merely conscious law-breaking, but rather law-breaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice. Civil disobedience is often used to morally and politically expose an issue that the individual or group sees as unjust. Proponents of civil disobedience argue that breaking the law is legitimate because they are following a higher moral code.
For an act of law-breaking to be considered civil disobedience, it must be deliberate, principled, and conscientious. This distinguishes it from ordinary criminal offenses, which are often done without full knowledge of the law being broken. Civil disobedience is undertaken with the full knowledge and understanding of the law and the intention to protest it based on sincerely held moral or political commitments.
Examples of civil disobedience include an environmentalist blocking a logging road to prevent the passage of logging trucks loaded with timber, even though the logging company has obtained a court injunction prohibiting the blocking of the road. This act of civil disobedience is a public and overt display of opposition to an unjust law, intended to marshal collective opposition and convey a message of discontent to the government, media, and public.
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Lawbreaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice
Civil disobedience is a form of protest that involves the deliberate violation of the law for social purposes. It is not merely conscious lawbreaking, but rather lawbreaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice. Civil disobedience is fundamentally an act of political protest because the noncompliance is intended to convey a message of discontent to the government, media, and public.
Civil disobedience is marked by the willful and open refusal to comply with a law in order to dramatize an issue that the individual or group finds unjust. The acts of defiance are typically overt, public acts aimed at marshaling collective opposition to unjust or unconstitutional laws and policies. For example, an environmentalist blocking a logging road and preventing the passage of logging trucks loaded with timber, despite a court injunction prohibiting the blocking of the road.
Civil disobedience differs from other illegal acts because it is engaged in by people who commit the action knowing and accepting the penalties and consequences of breaking the law. Breaking the law is seen as a means toward changing the law, the justice system, government policy, or the culture. Those who argue for civil disobedience assert that citizens need to be able to look at the law as a question: should I obey this law or not? Proponents of civil disobedience argue that breaking the law is legitimate because they are following a higher moral code.
For an act of lawbreaking to be considered civil disobedience, it must be deliberate, principled, and conscientious, and thus distinguishable from ordinary criminal offenses. Civil disobedience cannot be unintentional (for example, done in ignorance of the fact that one is violating the law). It must be undertaken deliberately, with the intention to protest laws, policies, institutions, or practices that the individual believes are unjust on the basis of sincerely held moral or political commitments.
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Overt, public acts
Civil disobedience is a form of protest that involves the deliberate violation of the law for social purposes. It is not merely conscious law-breaking, but rather law-breaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice. The acts of defiance are typically overt, public acts aimed at marshaling collective opposition to unjust or unconstitutional laws and policies.
Participants in civil disobedience willfully and openly refuse to comply with a law in order to dramatize the issue that they, or the group, find unjust. For example, an environmentalist might block a logging road, preventing the passage of logging trucks loaded with timber, despite the logging company having obtained a court injunction prohibiting the blocking of the road. Civil disobedience differs from other illegal acts because it is engaged in by people who commit the action knowing and accepting the penalties and consequences of breaking the law.
Breaking the law is a means toward changing the law, the justice system, government policy, or the culture. Civil disobedience is fundamentally an act of political protest because the noncompliance is intended to convey a message of discontent to the government, media, and public. It is used to morally and politically expose an issue that the individual or group sees as unjust.
Proponents of civil disobedience argue that breaking the law is legitimate because they are following a higher moral code. They assert that citizens need to be able to look at the law as a question: should I obey this law or not? An act of lawbreaking must be deliberate, principled, and conscientious, if it is to be civil and, hence, distinguishable from ordinary criminal offenses. Civil disobedience cannot be unintentional: it must be undertaken deliberately.
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Deliberate violation of the law
Civil disobedience is a form of protest that involves the deliberate violation of the law for social purposes. It is not merely conscious law-breaking, but rather it is law-breaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice. Civil disobedience is fundamentally an act of political protest because the non-compliance is intended to convey a message of discontent to the government, media, and public.
The participants in civil disobedience willfully and openly refuse to comply with a law in order to dramatize the issue that they, or the group, find unjust. An example of civil disobedience would be an environmentalist blocking a logging road and thus preventing the passage of logging trucks loaded with timber, when the logging company has obtained a court injunction prohibiting blocking the road. Civil disobedience differs from other illegal acts because it is engaged in by people who commit the action knowing and accepting the penalties and consequences of breaking the law. Breaking the law is a means toward changing the law, the justice system, government policy, or the culture.
The acts of defiance are typically overt, public acts aimed at marshaling collective opposition to unjust or unconstitutional laws and policies. Civil disobedience cannot be unintentional (say, done in ignorance of the fact that one is violating the law): it must be undertaken deliberately. Principled disobedience can be distinguished from ordinary criminal offending by examining the motives that underlie the disobedient act. The person must intend to protest laws, policies, institutions, or practices that she believes are unjust on the basis of her sincerely held moral or political commitments. The agent may not be correct or even entirely reasonable about her convictions, but she holds them sincerely.
Proponents of civil disobedience argue that breaking the law is legitimate because they are following a higher moral code. Civil disobedience is not merely conscious law-breaking, but rather it is law-breaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice. Those who engage in civil disobedience argue that citizens need to be able to look at the law as a question: should I obey this law or not?
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Conscientious lawbreaking
Civil disobedience is a form of protest that involves the deliberate violation of the law for social purposes. It is not merely conscious lawbreaking, but rather lawbreaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice. Civil disobedience is fundamentally an act of political protest because the noncompliance is intended to convey a message of discontent to the government, media, and public.
Civil disobedience is marked by the willful and open refusal to comply with a law in order to dramatize an issue that the individual or group finds unjust. For example, an environmentalist might block a logging road to prevent the passage of logging trucks loaded with timber, despite the logging company having obtained a court injunction prohibiting such action.
Civil disobedience differs from other illegal acts because it is engaged in by people who commit the action knowing and accepting the penalties and consequences of breaking the law. Breaking the law in this context is seen as a means toward changing the law, the justice system, government policy, or the culture.
For an act of lawbreaking to be considered civil disobedience, it must be deliberate, principled, and conscientious. It cannot be unintentional, such as an action done in ignorance of the fact that one is violating the law. The motives underlying the disobedient act must be examined to distinguish civil disobedience from ordinary criminal offending. The person must intend to protest laws, policies, institutions, or practices that they believe are unjust based on their sincerely held moral or political commitments.
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Frequently asked questions
Civil disobedience.
Civil disobedience is marked by the deliberate violation of the law for social purposes. Unlike other forms of protest, it is not merely conscious law-breaking, but rather law-breaking with the express goal of correcting a perceived injustice.
An example of civil disobedience would be an environmentalist blocking a logging road to prevent the passage of logging trucks loaded with timber, when the logging company has obtained a court injunction prohibiting blocking the road.
Civil disobedience is engaged in by people who commit the action knowing and accepting the penalties and consequences of breaking the law. Breaking the law is a means toward changing the law, the justice system, government policy, or the culture.
Civil disobedience is fundamentally an act of political protest because the noncompliance is intended to convey a message of discontent to the government, media, and public.











































