Three Types Of Civil Disobedience

Civil disobedience has been influencing people since mid 1800s. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, civil disobedience is “the refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” In a more simple way of describing civil disobedience, it is to refuse to obey the law when believed this is unjust, without being violent, According to the philosopher Ronald Dworkin, there are three types of civil disobedience: integrity-based, justice-based and policy-based. The first type of civil disobedience is integrity-based. This happens when a citizen neglects a law that he or she feels is immoral. An example of this is Henry Thoreau and his resistance to pay taxes. Thoreau lived in a cabin when he was arrested, he had to pay a poll tax which he refused to pay in 1842. But, sheriff Sam Staples ignored the case for some years until July of 1846 when Thoreau was finally arrested. He refused to pay his taxes because he believed the tax supported the Mexican-American war.

It occurs when an inhabitant disobeys a law in order to claim for a right denied to her or him. An example of justice-based disobedience is Rosa Parks fighting for Civil Rights. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks rode a city bus and after a few stops, the bus was full and some white people were still standing. When the bus driver noticed the situation, he orders Rosa Parks’ row to stand and give their seat to white people, which at the time was a law. She was against the segregation laws, so she refuses to move until, the driver called the police and they arrested her. When more black people noticed her actions, they made a boycott by refusing to use any city bus. After protesting for a year- on November 13, 1956- the Supreme court states that Montgomery’s segregation laws are unconstitutional. Now, Rosa Parks is known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights