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Civil Disobedience In Democracy

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Like Martin Luther King Jr once said “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” With these words in mind, I affirm the resolution resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified. I offer the following definitions to help clarify the round: Civil disobedience is nonviolent refusal to follow the laws or demands of government to prove a point and the person participating in civil disobedience has to accept the consequences. A democracy is a government by the people, where the people elect representatives or the leader. Not everyone has to vote in a democracy but, the leaders or representatives have to be decided by the majority of eligible voters. Morally is doing the right thing based on the morals of the people …show more content…

As stated before civil disobedience allows for minorities to have say when it comes to making laws. Other forms of protest like legal protest, boycotting, and protest with permit are not as good. These methods are not as likely to get the attention of the majorities because you are not putting yourself at risk and not showing how bad the law is. They also cost money and time for the person to use these forms of protest. If a person performed civil disobedience and got arrested for it, the majority can then see the effect of the …show more content…

Alone legal methods can take ages and usually won't get anywhere. It is more important to break the law and get the attention of the majority than for the minority to get oppressed and not have a say in the democratic process.

My third contention is civil disobedience solves the problems of a democracy. Laws in a democracy are created by the people to help the societal welfare of the people. However a problem in this system is the fact that the majority gets to decide which laws get passed and which don't. Democracy is a system where the majority rules. Peter Singer writes, ““It has long been recognized that there is a danger of injustice in democracy because the democratic system takes no account of the intensity with which views are held, so that a majority which does not care very much about an issue can out-vote a minority for which the issue is of vital concern. By civil disobedience the minority can represent the intensity of its feelings to the

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