Structured Response # 6

Magda Borgarelli

Social movements have played a great role in the process of democratization in the United States.  Some of them shaped the way people thought of certain groups and their rights as citizens of this country. Others fought to limit their political influence while trying to redefine them as either outsiders or part of our society.  The Civil Rights movement is just one of the most prominent examples of American social movements, since it not only helped further the social standing of African Americans but also sought to increase their “political voice”.  There were marches, sit ins, boycotts.  It took a long time and a lot of efforts for the Civil Rights movement’s goals to be achieved.  However, they succeeded.  In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination and aimed to suppress the obstacles that were put in front of African Americans who decided to vote.

Although, as previously mentioned, the Civil Rights movement exemplifies how American social movements can indeed broaden the political space, one must also look at the ones that made the 1964 Civil Rights Act necessary.  For decades, there were plenty of associations in American society that fought to maintain the status quo under which African Americans were considered inferior to the rest of the white population.  Segregation was a policy that was publicized as the right thing to do, which only contributed to the limitation of voting rights for African Americans.  In fact, poll taxes and literacy tests were put in place to hinder political participation of this group, and successfully doing so until the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  Therefore, it is true that social movements can be both beneficial and detrimental to certain groups, as they do not necessarily have the “right motives”.

This is exactly what goes on in other parts of the world, the MENA region being one of them.  Different civil societies have different goals and means to achieve them.  They have the potential to both easing or hindering the process of democratization in the region simply because they can oppose one another, without anyone knowing which one will prevail until it does.  There are many movements in the region that are working towards increasing political participation and government transparency, but there are just as many that are working to maintain what they have now, the status quo.  The MENA region is no different from other areas.  All countries had to go through this kind of process at one point or another of their history.  Therefore, it would be wrong to assume that just because there is a possibility that social movements who favor tradition might win over the ones that favor more “Western ideals”, that democracy will be doomed.  One has just to look at America.  Segregation was found acceptable until 1964, affectively limiting the voting rights of African Americans.  However, once the act was passed, the country slowly but surely regained a political momentum that allowed it to come as far as it is now:  champion of the process of democratization.