Social movements are only as strong as the people within them. A successful social movement can not operate with low representation, even if every tactic is executed perfectly. If people don't show up, nothing will ever change. The two greatest barriers to achieving high levels of representation are fear of reprisals from the state and general apathy. To combat these, a social movement must be both inspiring and pragmatic. Inspiring in the sense that it must make people believe that showing up will actually make a difference and pragmatic in that it must capture that momentum into making real, tangible steps forward.
Although participation is important, as mentioned in the Atlantic article, there are other aspects that are equal important. Leadership plays crucial role both when It comes to coordinating and inspiring the masses as well as when it comes to setting up a particular agenda with demands that are realistic and feasible.
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