Grassroots

A grassroots movement uses the people in a given district, region, or community as the basis for a political or social movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to implement change at the local, regional, national, or international levels. Grassroots movements are associated with bottom-up, rather than top-down decision-making , and are sometimes considered more natural or spontaneous than more traditional power structures. Grassroots movements, using self-organisation, encourage community members to contribute by taking responsibility and action for their community. Grassroots movements utilize a variety of strategies, from fundraising and registering voters, to simply encouraging political conversation. Goals of specific movements vary and change, but the movements are consistent in their focus on increasing mass participation in politics. These political movements may begin as small and at the local level, but grassroots politics, as Cornel West contends, are necessary in shaping progressive politics as they bring public attention to regional political concerns. The idea of grassroots is often conflated with participatory democracy.…

A grassroots movement uses the people in a given district, region, or community as the basis for a political or social movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to implement change at the local, regional, national, or international levels. Grassroots movements are associated with bottom-up, rather than top-down decision-making , and are sometimes considered more natural or spontaneous than more traditional power structures. Grassroots movements, using self-organisation, encourage community members to contribute by taking responsibility and action for their community. Grassroots movements utilize a variety of strategies, from fundraising and registering voters, to simply encouraging political conversation. Goals of specific movements vary and change, but the movements are consistent in their focus on increasing mass participation in politics. These political movements may begin as small and at the local level, but grassroots politics, as Cornel West contends, are necessary in shaping progressive politics as they bring public attention to regional political concerns. The idea of grassroots is often conflated with participatory democracy. The Port Huron Statement, a manifesto seeking a more democratic society, says that to create a more equitable society, "the grass roots of American Society" need to be the basis of civil rights and economic reform movements. The terms can be distinguished in that grassroots often refers to a specific movement or organization, whereas participatory democracy refers to the larger system of governance.

Barry Goldwater 1964 presidential campaign

The junior senator from Arizona and standard-bearer of conservative Republicans, Barry Goldwater, announced his candidacy on January 3, 1964. Goldwater focused on goals such as reducing the size of the federal government, lowering taxes, promoting free enterprise, and a strong commitment to U.S. global leadership and fighting communism, which appealed strongly to conservatives in the Republican Party. Despite vehement opposition from the leaders of his party's dominant moderate-liberal wing, such as New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and Michigan governor George Romney, Goldwater secured the Republican nomination. He sparked a grassroots movement among young conservatives by presenting himself as honest, committed, and a genuine politician. The majority of his campaign donations were made by individual supporters, and only one-third of donations were greater than $500.

Current examples

Earth Hour International - Created by WWF Australia and advertising agency Leo Burnett Sydney and Fairfax Media, has described itself as "the world's largest grass roots movement" Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016: This has been deemed by some as a grassroots campaign because of its focus on small donations, massive rallies, and other grassroots-style politicking methods. Momentum in the United Kingdom: it has been described as a grassroots movement supportive of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

Use in sport

The term "grassroots" is used by a number of sporting organizational bodies to reference the lowest, most elementary form of the game that anyone can play. Focusing on the grassroots of a sporting code can lead to greater participation numbers, greater support of professional teams/athletes, and ultimately provide performance and financial benefits to the organization to invest into the growth and development of the sport. Some examples of this are FIFA's Grassroots Programme and the Football Federation Australia's "Goals for Grassroots" initiative.

See also

Grassroots democracy Grassroots fundraising Grassroots lobbying Grassroots innovation

References

Further reading

Ekins, Paul (1992.) A new world order: grassroots movements for global change. Routledge. Fox, Jonathan A.; Brown David, L. (1998.) The struggle for accountability: the World Bank, NGOs, and grassroots movements. Massachusetts Institute of Tech.

External links

The Citizen's Handbook guides to grassroots/community organizing

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371923892 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.