direct action

direct action
   Political action outside the constitutional and legal framework of representative government, covering a huge variety of activities, many of which are militant but legal, although some of them are illegal or may be violent. It is essentially an attempt to coerce those in authority into doing something that otherwise they would not do. Many people might choose to engage in an orderly demonstration against, for example, a motorway development or the export of live animals to the continent. They might find that as passions become inflamed, so disorder creeps in. Protest marches have often turned out to be occasions in which violence erupts and the demonstrators become locked into confrontation with the police who are seeking to maintain law and order.
   Direct action is often employed by members of radical social movements, among them environmental activists and anti-globalisation protesters. In 1999, they demonstrated outside the conference hall and marched through the streets in the ‘battle of Seattle’, where the World Trade Organization was meeting.
   See also: civil disobedience

Glossary of UK Government and Politics . 2013.

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