Do Protests Spark Change?

by Eleanor Matthews

Throughout history, people have resorted to protesting in a last attempt to have their voices heard by their government, who is often choosing to ignore a significant proportion of their population because the group does not align with their aims. Do public protests really hold the government to account or is the people's show of commitment to an issue worthless to any leader who doesn't agree? 

Some of the largest protests, in terms of publicity and numbers were the Vietnam war protests. Americans were frustrated with the huge drain of money and resources that their government was expending on a war that was seeming to become more and more unwinnable every day. Despite this Lyndon B. Johnson was continuing to send troops and escalate the violence. Americans became increasingly frustrated, especially intellectuals in college settings and took to the streets, one example being  October 21, 1967, when one of the most prominent anti-war demonstrations took place, as some 100,000 protesters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial; around 30,000 of them continued in a march on the Pentagon later that night. After a brutal confrontation with the soldiers and U.S. Marshals protecting the building, hundreds of demonstrators were arrested. It was made clear by a Gallup poll that showed only 35 percent of the population approved of Johnson’s handling of the war and a full 50 percent disapproved (the rest had no opinion) in early February 1968 that american protests reflected the majority view of the public, helped even more by members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War joining televised protests, many of whom were in wheelchairs and on crutches. The sight of these veterans plastered across the television screens of America throwing away the medals they had won during the war increased the anti war movements strength dramatically. Despite this, only a year later, Nixon claimed in a famous speech that anti-war protesters constituted a small–albeit vocal–minority that should not be allowed to drown out the “silent majority” of Americans.

In fact It wasn't until mid-1971, when the first Pentagon Papers, revealing previously confidential details about the war’s conduct, undermined the U.S. government, military establishment and administration that Nixon announced the effective end to U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia in January 1973, seemingly insinuating that despite the record breaking protests, de-escalation was carried out because it benefited Nixon, not because he was dramatically influenced by protest. Jason Maoz from the New York Times in 1995 argues that: ‘Rather than give credit to the antiwar movement for stopping the war, I think it's at least as valid to suggest that the turmoil created by the movement served further to paralyze United States policy makers, whose aims in Vietnam were never very clear.’ it would be dismissive to argue that protests had zero impact, however, to insinuate that deescalation happened purely because of protest would be naive as the president chose to dismiss them despite clear polls that should have made it clear how unpopular the war was.

For a more recent example, we could look at the people's vote march, which I attended myself on the 23rd of March along with an estimated crowd of more than 1 million people. The ‘Put it to the People’ protest was one of the biggest demonstrations in recent British history and Members of the People’s Vote campaign group, which coordinated it, expressed confidence that it would prove to have not been in vain. However, post demonstration, there was still not enough support from MPs in the House of Commons to carry out what the public demanded and ultimately, months later, BREXIT continues with Johnson at the helm and the glimmer of hope that many had for a second referendum has faded to nothing, despite the blatant lies that the first referendum was based upon. 

Ultimately, as strikes and public shows of force continue through the recent school strikes for climate change, I can only hope that the government will feel obligated to make changes. Despite this, it concerns me deeply how unaccountable our current government must be as people feel that they must turn to these huge shows of public force and unrest to have their voices heard, and even then, the government can (and normally does) ignore us.