Civil Disobedience: An Essay Civil disobedience helps democracy because it provides a means to insure that which is just and that which is right will prevail. Democracy, founded on the principle of rule of the majority, cannot always insure that justice and rightness are maintained in the laws which guide it. As Thoreau (1849) assessed “law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of the respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily …showed first 75 words of 806 total…

…showed last 75 words of 806 total…direct action should be used, as suggested by King, through peaceful, non-violent actions aimed at ending the injustice. Civil disobedience, enacted through non-violent measures as suggested by King, can help to bring about change by creating tension within communities in which injustice is occurring. As tension emerges and increases, acts of civil disobedience can help to foster negotiation Law Cites Referenced King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963. Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience,”