Social Movements and Political Change

The Efficiency of Social Movements in Political Change
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The Efficiency of Social Movements in Political Change
Social movements refer to the actors or organizations that mobilize the public in such a way as to create social transformations that would initiate and propagate changes in the political system (Amenta, Caren, Chiarello, & Su, 2010). All through history, social movements have been integral control mechanisms fronting for political action or change. However, debates have risen over the effectiveness of these movements in politics. This paper disapproves social movements as a way of prompting for political change.
Social movements primarily involve mobilization of the masses towards the support of a particular trajectory. There have been several disagreements on this issue, and the most notable is that of Chomsky, who argues that the elites are the smart judges of the best interests of the public (Chomsky, 2012). The few elites have the mastery of controlling how the public thinks, hence indirectly influencing their actions. To a considerable extent, Chomsky’s argument is valid based on the fact that a more significant percentage of social movements are always politically-induced. That infers that the political elite uses it as a tool to divert the thinking of the masses, and by that indirectly controlling them. Amenta, Caren, Chiarello, and Su (2010) report that social movements produce a negligible effect as compared to the relevant actors, legal processes, and the right institutions.

Moreover, the players in political decision-making are various individuals, each subject to a range of influences (Amenta, Caren, Chiarello, & Su, 2010). Hence these movements are never in direct control of any political consequence, and that limits their power to persuade any reasonable change without the will of the real political participants.
Considering the above arguments regarding the manipulation of thought and the political elite being the major minds behind the initiation of these movements, it makes sense for one to conclude that the social movements are not an effective way to advocate for political change.

References
Amenta, E., Caren, N., Chiarello, E., & Su, Y. (2010). The political consequences of social movements. Annual Review of Sociology, 36(1), 287-307. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-120029
Chomsky, N. (2012). Manufacturing Consent: Thought Control in a Democratic Society. The Film Archives.