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IX - The March This is a situation involving only four persons and demonstrating the problem of decision-making on- the-spot. One of the participants is told he is in charge of a mass march on City Hall; at a mass meeting the night before it was democratically decided, for various reasons, not to have any signs of any kind in the march. The march is about to "take off" when three persons appear, in succession, with signs. They are not con- nected to each other. The first person is privately instructed to be very stubborn and noncooperative about putting his sign away; the second is cooperative; the third is neutral. The first two were at the meeting the night before; the third was not. Action begins when the first person approaches the march marshall, and the marshall says, "Last night we agreed on no signs, right?" (He poses the same question to each of the others.) The instructor stops the action after the marshal! has somehow come to grips with the stubborn individual, then the next person appears. In the course of the discussion with the third individual, the inst ruc- tor calls out, They're ready to go," referring to the march. It is important that the marshall not know in advance what the reaction of the three persons will be. Questions: How do the marshall's feelings about the sit- uation change as the pressure builds up? How much should the marshall try to placate the individuals, and how firm should he be? How does time affect the situation? Cast: Marshall, three persons with signs. &0 Chapter 5: Direct Action Tactics One catalogue of nonviolent action lists some 64 different methods which have been used historically. We are taking from this list* those which seem most significant for the current civil rights struggle. Demonstrations Demonstrations are primarily expressions of a Point of view, and do not of themselves change the power structure as vigorously as non-cooperation and interven- tion might. Nevertheless, they do go beyond verbal protest and are considered sufficiently threatening by many authorities so that they take harsh reprisals. 1. Marches and parades Technically, the difference between a march and a parade is that a march has a destination of symbolic *Gene Sharp, Methods of Nonvioient Action, Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway, 61