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Catch 22: Do the demonstrations really manage to move anything? - Walla! Business

2020-11-25T14:26:34.551Z


For 22 consecutive weeks the masses take to the streets, but their impact is still unclear. We turned to research, including a very interesting one conducted in the US about a decade ago, and discovered very interesting findings


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Catch 22: Do the demonstrations really manage to move anything?

For 22 consecutive weeks the masses take to the streets, but their impact is still unclear.

We turned to research, including a very interesting one conducted in the US about a decade ago, and discovered very interesting findings

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  • Demonstrations

Dana Pan Luzon

Wednesday, 25 November 2020, 00:11

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In the video: 2 minors were detained for questioning on suspicion of throwing stones at cars in a demonstration against Netanyahu (Editing: Nir Chen)

Demonstrations have been going on throughout the country for 22 weeks - over the bridges, at intersections, in Rabin Square and outside the Prime Minister's residence.

We see the demonstrations continue to take place week after week, and the question begins to arise as to what exactly is their effectiveness?

Can the demonstrations bring about change?



What, in fact, do the protesters expect?

Do they really think the prime minister will be rehabilitated and say 'if you do not want me I will resign'?

Do they think they will lead to the dissolution of the government?

Some see these demonstrations as a kind of outlet for a frustrated public, and no matter how many weeks they last - they have no power to change.

The others see them as the order of the hour, the way to fight for the sanity of the country lost in the tangle of lies.

Some say that the demonstrations are not "loud" enough, and on the other hand the incidents of violence between the demonstrators and the police do raise the issue on the agenda and in the news edition.



If we wanted to know if the demonstration in front of Balfour that lasts here for a few weeks is effective.

It is possible that according to the studies we can find an answer or, at the very least, come closer to a solution.

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Persistent and persistent, and where does it go?

Gonen Ben Yitzhak, one of the leaders of the Kiryat Minster movement, at a demonstration (Photo: Olivier Fitoussi, Flash 90)

Studies have addressed the question of the social and political effectiveness of demonstrations.

One of the questions examined is whether demonstrations are more effective when they are violent or when they are rather moderate.

Violent demonstrations in which extremist actions are taken have, on the one hand, a higher chance of producing a change of consciousness, media noise and even putting pressure on the relevant institutions to change this or that legislation, but on the other hand studies have found that violent and extreme demonstrations fail to produce a uniform line.

The more violent and extreme a demonstration is, the more it appeals to a very small audience.

In an activist dilemma study published in January this year, it emerged that support for such a demonstration is declining the more violent it is.

How do you lead a powerful demonstration on the one hand and without violence on the other?



If we look at the Balfour demonstration, it seems that on this issue it manages to maintain a kind of balanced line.

She does create a wide audience that identifies with her messages.

The broad mobilization stood out especially when the restrictions came in, so the demonstrations only grew and expanded.

Precisely when it was more difficult to demonstrate, people joined the protest and demonstrated both at bridges and intersections, and even after the restrictions were lifted the gatherings there continue.

Demonstrations so far have included incidents of violence between protesters and police, but there are no serious incidents or extreme vandalism that deters and produces antagonism.



All this makes it possible, as the studies have argued, to create mass identification.

It still does not answer the question of what, in fact, is the power of the demonstration.

What's the point of an event that has been going on for 22 weeks?

Harvard research has given this dilemma an important angle.

In sunny places the demonstrations were more effective.

TEA Party protest in 2009 (Photo: David Becker, AP)

Dana Pan Luzon (Photo: Nir Keidar)

The researchers tried to examine whether the demonstrations really have the power to change, or whether they are the result of political changes and in fact only a symptom and not necessarily the reason for the change.

To answer the question, Harvard officials examined the Tea Party movement, which staged a number of demonstrations in favor of economic liberalism and against the economic policies of former President Barack Obama.

And no, this is not a regulation that Obama issued against drinking tea, but an acronym for taxed enough already.



What happened on April 15, 2009 particularly interested the researchers.

On this day, demonstrations were held in 750 cities, including, of course, a demonstration in front of the White House.

Fate wished and in the same day it rained in several cities, which made a difference in the intensity of the demonstrations in the different places.

The rain was actually a natural and external manipulation that made a difference between the centers of demonstrations in the cities.

It was a gift to researchers, who found in retrospective examination that in places where the weather was better, the demonstrations of the tea party movement were more powerful.

Respectively, in those places and cities, the impact was evident in the results of the 2010 congressional elections.

In cities where the demonstration was powerful there seemed to be a clear difference in the turnout, more Republicans voted, and vice versa - in cities where the demonstrations were weaker due to the bad weather there were fewer votes that matched the spirit of the movement.

The results led the researchers to mathematical conclusions that each individual demonstrator actually increased the number of Republican voters by a factor of over 1 (i.e., each demonstrator caused at least one person to vote more than the cities where there were not many demonstrators).



The researchers concluded that the demonstrations influence political views by awakening and creating discourse.

Demonstrations, the researchers say, are causing people to become more political and involved rather than come to terms with what is happening in the country.

Harvard research has shown that demonstrations are particularly influential before elections.

After 22 weeks, when the very unsavory scent of the polls rises again, we can say that the answer regarding the effectiveness of the demonstrations is approaching.

And if the organizers are looking for some more advice, according to the study the persistence is right and should be continued.

Equally important tip - do not let the rain leave you at home.



The author holds a bachelor's degree in communication, economics and psychology.

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Source: walla

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