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Relationship Between Social Movement And Political Parties

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Political parties often like to associate themselves with certain social movements, that is, if the movement’s beliefs are similar to those of the party’s. Social movements and political parties are also able to work hand in hand because of their complementary attributes to one another. Movements have a mobilization structure and are therefore able to attract masses to the cause, which gives incentive for a party to associate themselves with a growing movement- gain in popularity. On the other hand, political parties have elite connection, funding and much more, which then gives incentives to movements to associate themselves with certain parties. Perhaps the main factor of connection between the two is the shared belief in a certain cause. …show more content…

Which is why social movements are inclined to work closely with political parties. Being on the same boat, political parties also like to associate themselves to get more votes on their side. However, things may not always go according to plan between the two. For example, although the black live matter movement has associated themselves more closely to the democratic party in the United States, they have criticized both candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for not doing enough for the movement. More precisely, Clinton, who was targeting African American voters for her recent presidential campaign. In recent interviews with leaders of the movement, the former Secretary of State was asked what she had changed and what she would change if elected. The leaders of the movement were not too pleased with her answers as they claimed that she does not have enough personal involvement on the issue. Yet, it still does seem like Black Lives Matter is heavily supported by the democratic party, regardless of whether it is because of voter turnout from the movement or simply because the party also strongly believes in the

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