Talk:Grassroots

Comments

So a grassroot's structure within an organization is one where the members make policy and it is then passed on to high levels?

What is a "grassroot refinery?" Is that the same thing as a "greenfield refinery?"

I don't know where you saw the reference, but "grassroots refinery" is used as an example in the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Main Entry: grass·roots Pronunciation: 'gras-"rüts, -"ruts
Variant(s): also grass·root /-"rüt, -"rut/
Function: adjective
1 : BASIC, FUNDAMENTAL <the grassroots factor in deciding to buy a house>
2 : being, originating, or operating in or at the grass roots <a grassroots organization> <grassroots political support>
3 : not adapted from or added to an existing facility or operation : totally new <a grassroots refinery>
Tafinucane 19:41, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Grassroots?

Surely this should be grassroots, not grassroot? Sounds very odd to me as it stands. Lupin 14:37, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

I agree. --Quuxplusone 22:11, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Support —Michael Z. 2005-05-23 06:19 Z

Churches

Religious organizations often try to astroturf their political movements as grassroots. They are more closely aligned with the covert cell community organization principle. See Cell church

I removed the above text from the article. This is going to need a lot of documentation if it is going to be read as anything other than some kind of attack or defamation. Also, it belongs in the astroturfing article, not here. -- Beland 23:38, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Rewrite

Grassroots activists want change in the political institutions by non-violent action. Grassroots activists reject hierarchical and ideological organization structures

Not exclusively. You can certainly organize a violent revolution in a grassroots fashion. You can also have grassroots support for a hierarchical structure, like a government agency or institution. You can also have a grassroots campaign in support of the status quo, or in support of capitalism. (And we certainly do have those things in the United States, among conservative voters.) I've corrected the article to take this into account. -- Beland 23:38, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

First and last sentences contradict each other.

Either the term comes from the German, or the English American politican coined it, but not both. --MattShepherd 20:36, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

I'd guess the English use of the term developed independently from the German. Tafinucane 19:41, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

The intro...

...was practically incoherent. It made it sound like there's one specific policitical movement named Grassroots. It seemed to meander in the very first sentence; while the "individual constituents" of a community might "voice their ideas and opinions" via a grassroots movement, that strikes me as an odd way to lead in describing the term itself. The second sentence, about the word's roots, is not only trivia but contested uncited trivia with no clear relevence to the subject. --Aquillion 22:15, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

The list.

I went ahead and moved the list of grassroots organizations that was rapidly forming here to its own article; they were overwhelming the article text. --Aquillion 23:10, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Okay JEM8r (talk) 05:08, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Spontaneity isn't really a necessary part of the definition

I take issue with this part of the intro: "The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous"

This is vague ("implies") and seems to be opinion. I don't have the support for it onhand, but I think this is a common misconception. For example, the Montgomery bus boycott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Bus_Boycott) certainly would qualify as "Grassroots," if not a paradigm of the word. But it was not a spontaneous event (as we learn in grade school). It was the product of organizers; Rosa Parks was an activist; and there were plans for the boycott before she was denied that seat.

So, I think we need to get deeper into this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Enaduris (talk • contribs) 23:59, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Progressives

Why is half of this article an advertisement for Progressives? Plenty of conservatives and third party candidates have grassroots campaigns, like Dr. Ron Paul who was raised millions, all with the help of local supporters orchestrating the fundraising. It seems like that whole section should go. Anyone? Amazinrick 01:28, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Links

Why are the Socialist WebZine and Socialist Party NYC Local listed under External Links? Sure, these may be examples of grassroots movements but the information found at these links does not directly discuss grassroots organizing. Same with the link to Counterhegemonic. I support deleting these links. Dj22g (talk) 22:57, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Strange article

I've seen US-centric articles be inadequate for worldwide users before but this one seems ridiculous! It's not just an article with a focus on the American idea, but which deals solely with the idea in US terms. How is this article's topic any different from what Grassroots democracy covers. Perhaps both ideas could be contained in an article at grassroots politics?

Maybe this is a British perspective, but (as far as I think of) grassroots means the most basic/local organisational level of many concepts – be it a grassroots political movement, a grassroots music movement, a grassroots marketing campaign (word-of-mouth), a grassroots sports club (which gives basic provision and training for amateur athletes).

Am I talking sense here? My main point has to be: why is this article is here and not part of a main grassroots politics article? I imagine that grassroots should be either a disambiguation page or an article discussing the various applications of the "grassroots" terminology. Sillyfolkboy (talk) (edits)^{Join WikiProject Athletics!} 19:47, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

Proposed Edits

General Description: I will be adding more examples to the History and Current Examples Sections. Further, I will expand on the definition provided in the Movement in Politics and Activism section. I will give more examples of what political actions are considered "grassroots". Lastly, I will provide examples of astroturfing in the AstroTurf Section.

History: Find early examples of use of word Detail sorts of movements that use word throughout history: I will give examples from "The Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organization" Example: 1951 case of Van Til working on integration of the Nashville Public Schools Example: 1980s German peace movement

Grassroots: Movement in Politics and Activism Definition and explanation: Strategies: define based on activist sources Purpose of those strategies

Current examples: add/expand 2008 Election: controversy over whether constitutes grassroots Use of small donors Effect on voter turnout Demographics represented

Dylanhq (talk) 18:03, 6 October 2015 (UTC)

Additional Proposed Edits

The intro section has a lot of potential to be much more concise. It includes extraneous info and grammatical errors that should be fixed. For example:

Grassroots movements and organizations utilize collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national, or international level.

The article should also be restructured, as the categories in the contents are sporadic, going from "UK grassroots aid movement" to "History" to "Astroturfing" to "Use in sport." The categories should maybe be broken down into History, then Examples, where it could be divided into different countries, then Criticisms, where astroturfing could be included.

The Astroturfing section uses syntax that sounds biased. Additionally, other claims in the section have no citations, including mentions of Obama's grassroots efforts.

I also don't see "Use in sport" being too relevant to the article and that it should go in the "See also" section.

Nmohnatkin (talk) 21:56, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

@Nmohnatkin: Why don't you go ahead and implement these changes? --Fixuture (talk) 15:30, 15 October 2016 (UTC)

Confusing intro

The intro is somewhat confusing. Phrases like "Grassroots movements and organizations utilize collective action from the local level" and "Grassroots movements are associated with bottom-up, rather than top-down decision making" it is hard for an average reader to easily understand what is meant.

Should probably avoid using unnecessarily convoluted words when simpler can be used. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Albaqualba (talk • contribs) 17:40, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Broken references

The first two references are broken.--Adûnâi (talk) 05:10, 5 January 2017 (UTC)