Civil Disobedience 1

Is Breaking a Law for a Cause Justifiable?

Abdul Zaker Olive

113 0590 520

Eng105

Section 24

Professor Dr. Shireen Huq, Ph.D

December 7th, 2015

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Abstract

Civil disobedience is an act of disobeying a law when it is unjust or opposes with

the public’s principles, values and morals. So, that part means it will differ from

person to person. Each and every individual has different ways to determine right

and wrong which are based on their perspectives and opinions. In this research I

tried to find out whether people think breaking a law for a cause is justifiable or

not. I wanted to find out to what extent they are willing to break a law. To find my

answers, I have designed a survey that helped me get valuable answers from my

respondents which were effective enough to support in my research and helped

me to come to a conclusion. Moreover, I have done my secondary research from

different websites and online communities which are explained in this paper.
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Is Breaking a Law for a Cause Justifiable?

Introduction

On September 13th, 2015 thousands of private university students from all over

Bangladesh came to the streets to protest against the government’s decision to

impose tax on tuition fees. This was one of the biggest protests in the history of

Bangladesh. There was not a single incident of violence. The students thought that

the law is against basic human rights so a movement is inevitable. They came to

the streets protesting and came back home winning. They attained their rights by

civil disobedience.

According to Thoreau (1849), “when a person's conscience and the laws clash,

that person must follow his or her conscience.” Besides the politically influenced

ones, this is what happened in almost every civil disobedience that took place in

history where the general public came to the streets for a cause which they

thought was right. They broke the law because the law which is imposed does not

serve their principles and morals or the law is a total violation of their human

rights; whereas, some would say that civil disobedience is a disrespect towards a

nation’s sovereignty, judicial authority or constitutional entity. This research is

therefore based on these differences in opinions.

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Background

Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws which are considered

unjust. It is an attempt to influence a society to accept a differing point of view.

Although, it usually uses the tactics of nonviolence, it still ends up with violence

because, for one - protests or movements, which include thousands of people, take

on the streets for demonstrations, disrupt the life of the general public and the

government tries to stop it, and second – the government, sometimes tries with

everything to stop these kinds of protests and does not want to give in public’s

demands because the law is beneficial to them.

There were times in history when breaking a law for a cause was justified. If there

were no language movement in 1952 for the mother language then we would not

be speaking in Bangla language today. That movement If Mahatma Gandhi did

not lead the movement against the British in 1930 then the Indian-subcontinent

would still be under the British rule. If Martin Luther King did not protest for the

equal rights for black and white people then may be blacks would still be under

oppression from the whites.

As Starr (1998) explained, “In each of these movements, the protesters were

compelled by deep moral convictions. Their distress was strong enough to

motivate them to go against the grain, to sacrifice personal comfort, to face

unknown danger, to give up their freedom and risk going to jail. Their love of

truth and justice drove them to action. Many, but not all, of those committing civil
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disobedience in the last two decades have been trained in Gandhian nonviolence

philosophy and tactics.

Some big civil disobediences changed the world for the better. Because some

groups of people stood up against oppression from strict laws. Nevertheless, the

end goal or result of any act of civil disobedience is not meant to benefit the

individual, but the community at large. The ends of such an act should not be a

private gain, but a public gain. With these things in mind I wanted to find answers

for my primary research question as whether breaking a law for a cause is

justifiable or not.

Significance

My research is both important for the society and for my own knowledge and

development. It helped me to find answers to the questions on how it affects the

society, law and order situations, and the public’s role as a citizen of a country.

In my research, I tried to address the following questions :

Primary Question –

 Is breaking the law for a cause justifiable?

My research is primarily being focused on this question. The sole purpose of this

research is because people have varying morals, beliefs and values. I wanted to

find out whether it is really justifiable if an individual breaks a law for a cause or

they think of it otherwise; whether they would break a law for a cause if the

situation comes.
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Secondary Questions –

 How strong does a reason/cause need to be for a law to be broken?

 Is it human rights violation if the government imposes a law which is

against public’s interest?

My secondary research questions will focus on the reasons to which an individual

would break a law.

Hypothesis

Since the start of civilization, civil disobedience has been taking place and people

participate and disobey a law that goes against their beliefs, values and moral or

human rights. In return some end up in jail or killed. Government makes the laws

and I think people have the right to disobey unjust laws and try to get those laws

changed.

Moreover, from my research, I expect to find that people know what civil

disobedience is and that they are willing to break a law for a cause and they think

it is justifiable. I also think that people know that unjust laws are against human

rights and they will not approach coercive or violent manner to attain their rights.
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Methodology

For my primary research, I have conducted a survey with the help of

questionnaire for my analysis, including both open-ended and close-ended

questions. I took the help of an online application, which is

www.surveymonkey.com where I designed and published the link of the

questionnaire. Data was collected from questionnaires provided to individuals of

different age groups, gender and occupation and also of different social classes.

The questionnaire was designed in such a way that helped me to get valuable data

or information for my analysis. I have also provided printed copies of my

questionnaire to get responses from individuals who does not have access to

internet or a computer.

For my secondary research, I consulted by taking help mostly from the World

Wide Web, using Google as my standard search engine. I took help from various

websites and blogs which had the most recent information, articles from certain

authors, researchers and journalists for getting some idea regarding the history of

civil disobedience.
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Limitations

While dong my research some obstacles/difficulties and some limitations were

there. First of all, the sample size is too small to cover such a topic which includes

varying opinions from person to person. People of different age groups, different

social classes, and occupations respond differently when things about their beliefs

and morals are asked.

Moreover, I had little access to get responses from different social class of people

who earns their livelihood on a daily basis as civil disobedience or mass

demonstrations or protests hit them harder than most other people.

Keywords

Civil, disobedience, morals, rights, beliefs, values.

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Primary Data Presentation and Analysis

To collect sufficient data about whether civil disobedience is justified or not, I

conveyed a survey of 30 individuals questioning them about different aspects of

my topic.

Figure 1

Figures 1 shows the gender and age of all the respondents in my survey. Out of 30

respondents 17 were male and 13 were female, all of which were of different age

groups starting from 20 and above. My population is the general people who are

adults and who has a responsibility towards the society or community. Different

age groups tend to have different perspectives which are based on their morals,

beliefs and values. As we can see from Figure 2, 11 respondents were from the

age group 20-25, 4 from 26-30 and the rest 15 of the responses were from the age

group above the age of 30.

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Out of the 30 people who answered my questionnaire, 10 were students, 13 were

employed in banks, schools, private companies, etc, 2 of them were housewives

and the rest 5 includes clerk, retailer, domestic workers, chauffeur, etc.

Figure 2: Awareness of Civil Disobedience among the Individuals

The first question which I asked the respondents was whether they know what

civil disobedience is and whether if they know what it means to be a nonviolent

protester. More than 50% respondents know what civil disobedience is or at least

heard about it, while 14 or 46% answered that they have not heard about it and are

not sure about it.

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Figure 3

The next question I asked the respondents was if they know someone who has

participated in civil disobedience. I wanted to find the popularity of it among the

general public. 56% said they do not know anyone who has participated in civil

disobedience; whereas, 46% said they do. This implies that

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Figure 4

The given chart represents responses on whether they would break a law for a

cause or not. 14 of them said they would but 9 said they would not and 7 were

hesitant in answering this question. Even though the responses from this question

meets one of my hypotheses that most people are willing to break a law for a

cause, but a big number of respondents are not willing to break a law even if the

reasons are strong.

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Figure 5

Figure 5 show that only 30% would approach violent means whereas, 70% are

against violence. They would never approach violence no matter what the

situation is. Even if they choose to break a law for a cause most people would not

approach violent means. They prefer peaceful protests. But most of the mass

movements still end up in bloodshed where thousands get killed or end up in jail.

This shows how strongly the government tries to enforce a law which is beneficial

to them.
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Figure 6

This data shows that 17 respondents strongly agree or agree with the statement;

whereas, a mere 5 respondents disagree or strongly disagree. This implies that

some people thinks there are other strong ways of human rights violation than just

an imposition of a law. But most people think that it is in total violation of human

rights.
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Figure 7

The responses from this question do not differ that much across the

demographics. 11 individuals think that civil disobedience is not a helpful method

to obtain one’s rights, 10 of them are not sure about it and only 9 said it is. People

who said no think that there are other ways to obtain one’s rights instead of

breaking the law.

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Figure 8

In this figure we can see that 16 individuals think that breaking a law for a cause

is justifiable whereas 14 think otherwise. The respondents who said yes gave

different reasons to why it is justifiable. For example:

1. “Sometimes the law is wrong”

2. “Some governments are corrupt and enforces a law which is in their own

benefit”

3. “Depends. If I have to save someone, I might break one or two rules”

4. “It would depend on the person’s motives”

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5. “Because we have to obtain our own right”

6. “Moral obligation”

7. “Law can be strict at times and can be broken for a valid reason”

8. “Depends on the cause, if its about someone’s livelihood”

Secondary Data Presentation and Analysis

I have done my secondary research through online articles from different

websites. One of them is Debate.org. It is an online community where real people

votes on a specific topic and gives reasons on their choice.

When asked about whether civil disobedience is justifiable, only 40% said yes

whereas 60% said no it is not.

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In contrast to the previous poll, this one had the most votes for yes. If we merge

both the percentages of the votes then we can see that most people voted that it is

justifiable.

People who responded that it is justifiable provided these reasons:

1. “An unjust law is no law at all.”

2. “Yes for the sake of justice you could break a law.”

3. “If protests will not be there how will the people speak out for their rights,

ideas, opinion and mind. So there should not be any law to prevent

protests to prevent public from speaking. It’s our basic fundamental right

to freedom of speech and expression.”

4. “Civil disobedience is not only justified but sometimes a necessity when

governments and their laws stop working for citizens.”

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People who think it is not justified gave these reasons:

1. “It is never justifiable for anyone to break any type of law, and this

includes protesters and activists who break the law for the sake of their

causes. Laws have been put in place for very specific reasons, and people

should follow them. If they do not, then they should be punished

accordingly.”

2. “I do no believe that the law should be broken by protesters and activists

for the sake of their cause because often when this is done, many innocent

lives are lost”.

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Summary of Findings

Although it is a topic of varying opinions, I have found that most of my

hypotheses are correct based on both primary and secondary research:

1. People are aware of civil disobedience.

- Most of my respondents are aware of civil disobedience.

2. People are willing to break a law for a cause.

- Most people are willing to break a law for a cause.

3. Unjust laws are against human rights.

- Highest number of respondents agreed with this.

4. Breaking a law for a reason is justifiable.

- Most people think it is justifiable.

5. People does not use coercive or violent manner to attain their rights.

- About 70% respondents said they do not prefer violence.

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Conclusion

So I can conclude that breaking a law for a cause is justifiable if the causes are

strong enough and does not represent personal gain. Moreover, most people do

not prefer violence. They would approach violent means to obtain their rights.
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Reference

Debatewise.org,. 'Civil Disobedience Can Be Justified'. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

Starr, K. (1998) 'The Role Of Civil Disobedience In Democracy.'. The Civil

Liberties Monitoring Project. N.p. http://www.nwtrcc.org/omtfp/civilrole.html

Thoreau, H. D. (1849). Civil Disobedience. United States.

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Appendix

Research Proposal

1. Area of Research : Law

2. Topic of Research : Civil Disobedience

3. Research Questions :

I. Primary: Is breaking a law for a cause justifiable?

II. Secondary:

 How strong does a reason/cause need to be for a law to be

broken?

 Is it human rights violation if the government imposes a

law which is against public interest?

4. Hypothesis

Civil disobedience has been around for a long time. Since the start of civilization,

civil disobedience has been taking place and people participate and disobey a law

that goes against their beliefs, values and morals or human rights. In return some

end up in jail or killed. Government makes the laws and I think people have the

right to disobey unjust laws and try to get those laws changed. But an act of civil

disobedience must meet two criteria: right intention and nonviolent means.
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5. Significance of Research

My research is both important for the society and for my own knowledge and

development. It will answer questions on how it affects the society, law and order

situations, and the public’s role as a citizen of a country. This research will find

how public behaves according to their morals and values and to what extent they

are willing to go to violate a law for something they think is right.

6. Research Methodology

For my primary research, I will conduct a survey with the help of questionnaire.

Data will be collected through questionnaire which will be provided to random

people. The questionnaire will be designed in such a way that will help me to get

valuable data or information for my analysis based on their perspective.

For my secondary research, I will be taking help mostly from the World Wide

Web, using Google as my standard search engine. Moreover, I will also look into

different journals, newspaper articles to help me gather more information for my

analysis.
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7. Time Frame

I hope to complete my primary research by the second week of November and my

secondary research by November. I shall complete the final draft of my research

paper by early December and submit it towards the end of this semester.

8. Dissemination

My Paper will be divided into several sections, the most important of which are

the Introduction, Background, Data Presentation and Analysis and Summary of

Findings. Also, I’ll present my findings to my peers and my respected faculty

member with the help of visual contents.

9. Request for Approval

I, hereby request your approval for my research proposal. If you wish me to

modify or improve my proposal, I will submitit after making the necessary

changes. I would also be grateful for your advice and help in conducting my

research and completing the project.

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Questionnaire

This survey is being conducted for Eng105 research paper. It contain questions about

Civil Disobedience which means the refusal to obey certain laws which are unjust and

against people's views, morals, values and perspectives.

Please take a moment of your time to complete the survey. Your responses will be kept

strictly confidential so your honest opinions are highly appreciated and expected.

* 1. Gender

Male

Female

* 2. Age

20-25

26-30

31-35

36-40

40+

* 3. Occupation
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* 4. Are you aware of civil disobedience and what it means to be a nonviolent

protester?

Yes

No

Not Sure

* 5. Would you break a law for a cause?

Yes

No

Not Sure

* 6. Would you approach violent means to obtain your rights?

Yes

No

* 7. Do you know someone who has participated in civil disobedience?

Yes

No
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* 8. Imposing a law which is against public interest is a violation of human

rights.

Strongly
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree
Disagree

Strongly Strongly
Agree Neutral Disagree
Agree Disagree

* 9. Do you think civil disobedience is a helpful method for obtaining one's

rights?

Yes

No

Not Sure

* 10. Do you think breaking a law for a cause is justifiable?

Yes

No

Not Sure

Please mention why.