Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power to directly reach certain goals of interest by, for example, revealing an existing problem, using physical force, highlighting an alternative, or demonstrating a possible solution. Both direct action and actions appealing to others can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the action participants. Nonviolent direct action may include sit-ins, strikes, street blockades, sabotage, and counter-economics. Nonviolent direct action has historically been an assertive regular feature of the tactics employed…   Read more

Abstentionism is a term in election procedure for when a participant does not go to vote. Abstention must be contrasted with "blank vote", in which a voter casts a ballot willfully made invalid by marking it wrongly or by not marking anything at all. An abstention may be used to indicate the voting individual's ambivalence about the measure, or mild disapproval that does not rise to the level of active opposition. Abstention can also be used when someone has a certain position about an issue, but since the popular sentiment supports the opposite, it might not be politically expedient to vote according to his or her conscience. Some non-voters claim that voting does not make any positive…   Read more