A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement.[1] Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to implement change at the local, regional, national, or international levels. Grassroots movements are associated with bottom-up, rather than top-down decision-making, and are sometimes considered more natural or spontaneous than more traditional power structures.[2]
Grassroots movements, using self-organization, encourage community members to contribute by taking responsibility and action for their community.[3] Grassroots movements utilize a variety of strategies from fundraising and registering voters, to simply encouraging political conversation. Goals of specific movements vary and change, but the movements are consistent in their focus on increasing mass participation in politics.[4] These political movements may begin as small and at the local level, but grassroots politics as Cornel West contends are necessary in shaping progressive politics as they bring public attention to regional political concerns.[5]
The idea of grassroots is often conflated with participatory democracy. The Port Huron Statement, a manifesto seeking a more democratic society, says that to create a more equitable society, "the grass roots of American Society" need to be the basis of civil rights and economic reform movements.[6] The terms can be distinguished in that grassroots often refers to a specific movement or organization, whereas participatory democracy refers to the larger system of governance.[7]
^Gove, Philip Babcock (1961). Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Riverside Press.
^Yenerall, Kevan M. (2017). "grassroots politics.". Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics. Facts On File.
^Caneparo, Luca; Bonavero, Federica (July 29, 2016). "Neighborhood regeneration at the grassroots participation: Incubators' co-creative process and system" (PDF). International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR. 10 (2): 204–218. doi:10.26687/ARCHNET-IJAR.V10I2.960 (inactive April 24, 2024). S2CID 59383878. ProQuest 1833257272.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link)
^Poggi, Sarah. "Grassroots Movements" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
^Wallace, Michele (1992). Black Popular Culture. Seattle: Bay Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-56584-459-9.
^Students for a Democratic Society (1962). "Port Huron Statement". Archived from the original on July 5, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
^Committee of the Regions.; European Institute Of Public Administration (European Institute Of Public Administration (Maastricht, The Netherlands)). (2011). Direct and Participatory Democracy at Grassroots Level(PDF). European Institute of Public Administration. doi:10.2863/63437. ISBN 978-92-895-0641-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
Congress was a grassroots democratic reform movement that came out of the existing Chinese government in 1987. It encouraged grassroots elections in villages...
individuals, at the top of the organization. Grassroots organizations can inhabit participatory systems. Grassroots systems differ from representative systems...
platform of the Grassroots Party was the Bill of Rights. Individual candidates' positions on issues varied from Libertarian to Green. All Grassroots candidates...
of its past and present Grassroots-centric events include the Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge presented by Grassroots Motorsports, GRM Speedfest...
being counted at city council meetings and show false grassroots support. In the book Grassroots for Hire: Public Affairs Consultants in American Democracy...
Trinamool Congress (Bengali: সর্বভারতীয় তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস; transl. All India Grassroots Congress; abbr. AITC) is an Indian political party that is mainly influential...
In 2003 the associated Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival began, modeled after the Finger Lakes festival. GrassRoots was founded by popular Americana band...
increasingly partaking in grassroots lobbying as an attempt to influence a change in legislation. The unique characteristic of grassroots lobbying, in contrast...
The Grassroots Democratic Party of Germany (German: Basisdemokratische Partei Deutschland, abbreviated German: dieBasis) is a political party in Germany...
262. ISBN 0-8230-7690-3. Grass Roots at Allmusic "The Grassroots official website". The-grassroots.com. Retrieved November 29, 2014. Hartman, Kent (2012)...
Intermediary NGOs: The Supporting Link in Grassroots Development. Kumarian Press, Inc., 1992 Rafael A. Boglio Martínez, Grassroots Support Organizations and Transformative...
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academia, was Grassroots nominee for U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative from Vermont, in 1994, 1996, and 1998. Three Vermont Grassroots candidates won...
"নাজমুল হুদা, জাগদল থেকে তৃণমূল বিএনপি" [Nazmul Huda, from JaGoDal to Grassroots BNP]. RTV (in Bengali). 20 February 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2023....
Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87013-730-3. Message to the Grassroots, King Solomon Baptist Church, Detroit, November 10, 1963...
Obama, Ron Paul, and Bernie Sanders. Grassroots fundraising may include canvassing.[citation needed] Grassroots fundraisers may use demographic data to...
parties that were active in the past have included the Grassroots Party, the Independent Grassroots Party, and the Reform Party. Marijuana political party...
memoriam: Swiff LaRoc, 1970-2018". Now. Retrieved August 6, 2018. Da Grassroots at AllMusic Da Grassroots at Discogs Da Grassroots keep it original[usurped]...
Laws and the pro-legalization Grassroots Party. At age 30, he ran as a U.S. Senate third-party candidate for the Grassroots Party in the 1990 election,...
Grassroots Out (GO) was an organisation funded by Arron Banks that campaigned in favour of EU withdrawal in the 2016 referendum on EU membership in the...
O'Reilly (ISBN 0596007337). Gillmor discusses how the proliferation of grassroots internet journalists (bloggers) has changed the way news is handled. One...
(PDF). Third Sector New England. Retrieved 2020-06-20. "Grassroots Fundraising Journal » Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training - GIFT". 2 August...
GrassrootsPA was a political news website centered on the politics of Pennsylvania. It was founded in 2004 by then law student Chris Lilik, a Pat Toomey...
American Crossroads established a spin-off 501(c)(4) group, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (Crossroads GPS). In 2012 it founded another Super PAC...