Active & passive support
Mass movements work by organizing ordinary people to work together and withdraw consent from the status quo. (That’s in line with a social view of power.) As the Momentum participant guide explains, “For instance, the boss relies on the tacit consent of the workers to work; if the workers don’t show up, the boss’ power is empty – he rules over no one.”
With a social view of power in mind, movements need many, many participants in order to have the power to win – not just a few core organizers.
As we bring supporters on board to a movement, we can categorize support as “passive” or “active.” The difference between passive and active supporters is exactly what it sounds like; active supporters walk the passive supporters’ talk.
Active support
Active supporters of a movement agree with a movement’s values and goals, and are participating in sustained action (repeatedly, over time) to advance the movement.
Examples:
Someone who joins a local organization and attends meetings, participates
Someone who regularly attends protests for an issue that moves them
Someone who regularly donates to organizations in a movement
Someone who votes for candidates with a specific movement issue in mind
Passive support
Passive supporters of a movement usually agree with a movement’s values and goals - but aren’t taking sustained action to help push the movement forward.
Examples (when not accompanied by sustained involvement):
Someone who, when polled, answers that more action on X issue is needed
Someone who posts messages on social media in support of a movement
Someone who talks to friends and family about an issue
Someone who attended a protest for an issue once or twice
Spectrum of support
Graphic from Momentum participant guide:
The spectrum of support is a tool to help organizers map out where the public (or a certain audience) stands on an issue.
When movements are growing, many who were neutral pick a side, and the “neutral” slice of the pie shrinks. Movements work to engage passive supporters and draw them into holding active roles in the movement. It’s pretty typical to see both the active segments of “the movement” and “the opposition” grow in the hottest points of a movement.
How much support do we need to win?
Researchers Dr. Erica Chenoweth and Dr. Maria Stephan are co-authors of Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict (2011). Their research surveying campaigns of resistance from 1900 to 2006 found out something amazing:
Nonviolent civil resistance movements that gained at least 3.5% of the population as active supporters were, each time, successful in overthrowing dictatorial regimes.
The main lesson for us – even if movements we work for operate in a different context – is that not everyone has to agree with us in order for a mass movement to win. It could take as little as engaging 3.5% of any given population in sustained, active roles to undermine the systems propping up the status quo. Learn more about Dr. Chenoweth and Dr. Stephan’s work.
Polarization
Polarization is one of the ways that we move people from passive to active support. Read more about how polarization works in a cycle of Momentum.