Should Civil Disobedience Be Permitted In A Democracy?

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 11th grade November 2001

download word file, 2 pages 0.0

Civil disobedience is the act of disobeying the law on the grounds of political principle without using violence. People decide to use civil disobedience as a means of getting into court in hopes of changing any laws they feel are unconstitutional and unjust. Henry David Thoreau believed "People living in a democracy have the right to disobey any law they believe is unjust." Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We are American citizens. We are not here to advocate violence, the only weapon we have is the weaopon of protest, and the great glory of America should be free to express their opinions." President Kennedy on the other hand states, "defiance of the law leads to the road of tyranny and could lead to an anarchy." Civil disobedience has had a positive effect on society, therefore it should be permitted in a democracy.

Civil disobedience is an effective way of changing laws and protecting liberties.

In 1956, a black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white person. Martin Luther King Jr. then started the cvil rights movement in the 1950s in order to defend innocent Rosa Parks. marin Luther King Jr. believed that the law of blacks having to give up their seats on buses to while people was unjust and unconstitutional. He was a black man who demonstrated great leadershiop and courage without using violence.In 2956 there became equal seating on buses in the U.S. Thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. who had the courage to speak up. If he had never used civil disobedience, then today we would still have unfail laws.

Civil disobedience has had positive effects on social refores that we take for granted today. Henry David Thereau has gone down in history as a...