ELEMENTS OF A NONVIOLENT ACTION CAMPAIGN

1.	RESEARCH & ANALYSIS:	Get facts, information, historical perspective regarding a specific concern (end the war, close military base, close crack house, gangs, divestment, military violence). Identify widely held moral and ethical values that are being violated (human survival, right to worship, civil rights, killing, right to vote). Envision the alternatives (what do we want instead? how can human needs best be met in this situation?). Clarify faith position and demands.
2.	DELEGATIONS & LETTERS:	People, governments, institutions, and organizations must be given the opportunity to correct violations of ethical or moral values. Efforts to exhaust all normal channels to bring about change should be clear, fair, documented and publicized. Involve as many people as possible. An institution's failure to respond to such opportunities moves us to other levels of action.
3.	NEGOTIATIONS:	Negotiations help both parties to understand each other's actions. Face to face contact helps each to see the other as human beings and to understand the other's perspective on the issue. Misunderstandings can be more easily cleared up. Roads to resolution can be more readily explored and developed. Even if negotiation meetings are not granted, they should be continually sought throughout the campaign.
4.	PUBLIC EDUCATION:	Generating public support for the campaign and openness to escalated action when it occurs can be accomplished through: leafleting, poster walks, street speaking, public meetings, speaking to local groups, printed articles in newspapers and magazines, letters to the editor, TV interviews, street theater, etc.
5.	TRAINING:	Nonviolence training should be given to all participants in the campaign. It is helpful to establish nonviolence guidelines that participants agree to observe throughout the campaign. Use plenty of role plays in trainings to prepare people for campaign actions.
6.	SPECIAL APPEALS:	Special appeals to public officials, business people, clergy, the President, other dignitaries and the opponent for a just resolution to the situation can be made public by news releases and public "walks" to the places where these people are.
7.	SACRIFICIAL ACTS:	Fasting or giving up special privileges are good tactics especially in combination with special appeals.
8.	ULTIMATUM:	Review past attempts at resolving the injustice; set out minimum demands; set a date for a final good-faith response by the opponent after which confrontation will escalate. Be firm but friendly. Put it in writing for the opponents. Make statement available to news media.
9.	NONVIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE:	Sit_ins, pray_ins, die_ins, blockades, occupations, disruption of meetings, crossing forbidden lines, etc. are examples of actions that dramatize your message and challenge the injustice in ways that cannot be easily ignored.
10.	EVALUATION:	Taking time to reflect on and honestly evaluate the campaign allows us to learn from our mistakes and successes.

NOTE: The above is a list of possible steps in their probable order. Not all the elements are present in every campaign. Sometimes the steps take months, sometimes days.

Adapted From: "A Nonviolent Action Manual" by William Moyer, New Society Press 1977.