Holding Politicians Accountable
You may picture activists organizing a protest rally, but this is only one of the tactics they might use. Other tactics include writing letters to the local papers and to elected officials, preparing informational leaflets and surveys, forging alliances with groups that have shared concerns, boycotting businesses, and organizing press conferences.
While a role of government is to pass and enforce laws to safeguard the health of children, families, neighborhoods, and the natural environment, sometimes it fails to do so. Then activists can use a tactic called lobbying to try to influence their elected officials.
In this video, Shadia explains how she and fellow activists lobbied her state legislature when her community was threatened by improper toxic waste management. Eventually their activism paid off. Lawmakers agreed to refinance a program called Superfund, which sets aside money to clean up toxic waste sites.
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Teen Fights for Toxic Waste Cleanup
Take Notes
After watching the video, note what you learned about what it took for this lobbying effort to be successful.
