Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified

"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves." -Henry David Thoreau- Because I agree the words given by Thoreau, I strongly affirm today's resolution, civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified. I have 2 definitions According to proffesr Michael Walser"s book, Civil disobedience is a non revolutionary encounter with the state, in a which a person breaks the law but does so in ways that do not challenge the legitimacy of the legal or political system. This person feels morally bound to disobey but also recognizes the moral value of the state. Civil disobedience is a way of maneuvering between these conflicting moralities. Disobedients willingly accept punishment which is a key distinguishing factor between disobedience and other forms of crime, like vandalism, which are intended to remain anonymous. Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people. Value: Since the resolution is asking if civil disobedience should be justified or not, my value will be Justice. Criterion: To have justice, we shouldn"t ignore but respect individuals, so individual conscieonce will be my criteria this round. 1. Civil disobedience is the key to democracy Subpoint a A: Democracies are imperfect R: Huijin Liu states " In an imperfect democracy, citizens are justified in resorting to civil disobedience in order to be loyal to democratic ideals" We can say that some democracy that does not fit to the definition of democracy is an imperfect democracy. Often those wealthiest of a nation are allowed the keys to the government and enter the ruling elite. The population of the others, those with limited representation find their voice through civil disobedience. Active non-violent disobedience is necessary to speak truth to power under the very tenets of democracy, in which everyone should be fairly represented through their government. According to Richard Dworkin A man has duties other than his duties to the state. A man must honour his duties...to his conscience, and if these conflict with the duties of the state, then he is entitled, in the end, to do what he judges to be right. Another more current example is the Black Lives Matters movement. Activist have argued that the murder unarmed Black people and differential treatment in policing of minorities have been occurring for decades. After acts of disobedience on behalf of the protestors this has evolved into a conversation that people are having regarding policing and communities of color. I: A more representative government is a fundamental to ensuring that the truth of liberal democracy is a reality. T: As we can see all democracies are imperfect, however,working towards a more representative government through non-violent dissension only does more to lead us to a work towards perfecting the imperfect doctrine of democracy. Subpoint b. A:Civil disobedience gives minority a voice. The biggest problem in democracy is that it is easy to ignore minority. Plato said that democracy is a form of Ochlocracy because if majority in democracy aren"t well knowned, then the country will have lots of problems. This is showing that listening to minority"s voice is very important. In democracy, if minority doesn"t use civil disobedience, there is no any way to say their opinion and make them respected. There is no any reason to block the voice of minority. This is the reason why civil disobedience is morally justified in democracy.Saying that civil disobedience is not justified in democracy is to say that people should ignore the voice of minority in democracy. It is also to say that people should always obey government even though they are unjust. This should never happen. So, it means that civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified. Contention2. A: Civil disobedience is a necessary check on power to prevent authoritarianism The reason that we have "one person one vote" is because every citizen in a democracy is entitled to equal protection under the law. However, the problem with a democracy is that they often ignores the minority. When individuals don"t have access to the political powers that be, their only recourse is the most effective means of calling attention to their difficulty. This is where civil disobedience comes in. By breaking what they perceive to be unjust laws, or by violating other laws in their protest, civil disobedients can effectively force the government to pay attention to the issues they face. Government will see that people doesn"t like the law what they are breaking and they will pay attention to the issues. Letters to congressman, lobbying, and appeals to the courts are slow and often ineffective means of garnering attention. If individuals are willing to accept the consequences of their actions (jail), then they ought to use civil disobedience as a form of democratic discourse. They are not subverting the system, they"re introducing a new aspect to the dialogue. Civil disobedience is a ballot for the people whose ballot doesn"t matter. Saying that civil disobedience is not justified in democracy is to say that people should ignore minority in democracy. Legal ways like letters to caongressman, lobbying, and appeals to the courts are slow and also ineffective. this is whay civil disobedience should be morally justified in a democracy. As I proved, civil disobedience is a way to perfecting democracy. Also, civil disobedience will give minority a voice and it will necessary check on power to prevent authoritarianism. My opponent should prove why we should ignore minority"s voice to win. If my opponent fails to do that, I ask you to affirm.