Page 7 - Contact Your Lawmakers Research

Contacting Your Member of Congress - Fact or Fiction? Research Project

How about protests and marching?
Protests erupted in the Texas capitol building on Monday May 29th over Governor Greg Abbott’s new law

cracking down on ‘sanctuary cities,’ interrupting the final day in the regular session of the Texas Legislature.
Hundreds of protesters chanted in opposition to the new law, forcing House leadership to stop the session
and send state troopers to clear the gallery. But does protesting work and does it really make a difference?

Questions about the success of protests have been around for an extremely long time. So, for the sake of

this article, let's define success as whether or not the protest influenced decisions of key policy-makers. For
some protesters, carrying signs and singing catchy songs or phrases makes them feel good.

They just like the excitement of political gatherings and want to show the public they all share common
feelings. Unfortunately, other protesters tend to be more aggressive, disruptive, and sometimes resort to

violence. While disruptive protests might get more news coverage, policy-makers tend to totally disregard
them and ignore their causes. Research has also shown that a high percentage of protesters are not
registered voters and therefore have no power over the lawmakers come election time.

You see, policies that affect the lives of Americans have to go through the 535 members of Congress, and

it's these politicians that must be effectively and forcefully instructed to act in the public’s best interest.
That's why the most successful “citizen lobbying groups" such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) or the
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) don't bother with marches, protests and demonstrations.

Instead, they focus their policy influencing efforts on each individual member of Congress.

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