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An image of a large crowd of people, some holding signs that read “Stand with the people of Ferguson” and “Darren Wilson murdered Mike Brown”.
Protestors in Washington, DC, rally against the decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the 2014 shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. (credit: modification of work by Neil Cooler)

Both the Silent Spring and Ferguson examples demonstrate the idea that people will naturally join groups in response to disturbances. Some mobilization efforts develop more slowly and may require the efforts of group leaders. Sometimes political candidates can push issues to the forefront, which may result in interest group mobilization. The recent focus on immigration, for example, has resulted in the mobilization of those in support of restrictive policies as well as those opposed to them ( [link] ). Rather than being a single disturbance, debate about immigration policy has ebbed and flowed in recent years, creating what might best be described as a series of minor disturbances. When, during his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump made controversial statements about immigrants, many rallied both for and against him.

Jenna Johnson, “Immigration continues to be Donald Trump’s rallying issue,” Washington Post , 22 October 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/22/immigration-continues-to-be-donald-trumps-rallying-issue/.

A chart titled “Which comes closer to your view of immigrants today?” On the left is a bar that is labeled “Strengthen country through hard work and talents, 51%”. To the left of the text are two images of people holding signs that read “Peace for immigrants” and “We are not criminals we are hard workers!”. In the center is a bar that is labeled “other/don’t know, 8%”. On the right is a bar labeled “Weaken country by taking jobs, housing, and health care, 41%”. To the left of the text are two images of people holding signs that read “Secure the borders now” and “Stop illegal immigration”.
Protestors take to the streets on different sides of the immigration issue. Some argue that the United States is a nation of immigrants, whereas others demonstrate in support of greater restrictions on immigration.

Student activism and apathy

Student behavior is somewhat paradoxical when it comes to political participation. On one hand, students have been very active on college campuses at various times over the past half-century. Many became politically active in the 1960s as part of the civil rights movement, with some joining campus groups that promoted civil rights, while others supported groups that opposed these rights. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, college campuses were very active in opposition to the Vietnam War. More recently, in 2015, students at the University of Missouri protested against the university system president, who was accused of not taking racial issues at the university seriously. The student protests were supported by civil rights groups like the NAACP, and their efforts culminated in the president’s resignation.

http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/2015/11/09/springfield-naacp-responds-mu-president-resignation/75473312/ (March 1, 2016).

Yet at the same time, students participate by voting and joining groups at lower rates than members of other age cohorts. Why is it the case that students can play such an important role in facilitating political change in some cases, while at the same time they are typically less active than other demographic groups?

Are there groups on campus that represent issues important to you? If not, find out what you could do to start such a group.

Summary

Interest groups often have to contend with disincentives to participate, particularly when individuals realize their participation is not critical to a group’s success. People often free ride when they can obtain benefits without contributing to the costs of obtaining these benefits. To overcome these challenges, group leaders may offer incentives to members or potential members to help them mobilize. Groups that are small, wealthy, and/or better organized are sometimes better able to overcome collective action problems. Sometimes external political, social, or economic disturbances result in interest group mobilization.

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Source:  OpenStax, American government. OpenStax CNX. Dec 05, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11995/1.15
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