144 stalling and obstruction
"Administrative officers and other governmental employees may express political noncooperation by stalling and obstruction carried out under the guise of compliance with a particular order or policy. This method falls within the approach which Sir Basil Liddell Hart defined as “Apparent acquiescence that conceals, and is combined with, a strategy of noncompliance.. .” It may be also described as “Fabian tactics” and “polite procrastination.” Liddell Hart argued that this approach can be “maintained more continuously and extensively than others, so as to yield the minimum to the occupying power and create a cumulative sense of frustration.” It may be made all the more baffling if practiced “with a cheerful smile and an air of well-meaning mistake, due to incomprehension or clumsiness.. .” 185 The degree of outward appearance of support and compliance may vary."...
Potentially awesome partners
High scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Montana activists stop the largest coal mine plant in the United States, 2010-2016
The Powder River Basin, a 20,000 square mile region stretching across Eastern Montana and Wyoming, was long the coal mining hub of North America. In 2022, the region produced over 250 million tons of coal, almost half of the total coal production in ...
French citizens and soldiers nonviolently defend against Algerian putsch, 1961
At the beginning of April 1961, after nearly seven years of war in Algeria as France tried to maintain its control there, French President Charles de Gaulle announced that he would begin negotiations with the Algerian nationalists and soon relinquish...
Bulgarians force further democratic reforms, 1997
In 1989, Bulgaria was part of the "wave" of nonviolent revolts against domination by the Soviet Union and its Communist-led governments in Eastern Europe (see Bulgarians campaign for democratic reforms and multi-party rule, 1989-90).\n\nNormal.dotm 0...
German citizens defend democracy against Kapp Putsch, 1920
In March 1920, Walther von Lüttwitz, a commanding general in the German army, and Wolfgang Kapp, a German provincial official (with the help of a few other German officials, such as Chief of Staff, General Hans von Seeckt and his collaborators in the...
Taiwan's Sunflower Movement halts trade deal with China, 2014
Taiwanese independence has been an important issue in East Asia since the country was established in 1949. Cross-strait tensions between China and Taiwan created tension within Taiwan. The two major political parties in Taiwan, the Kuomintang (KMT) a...
Peruvian copper miners win Freeport strike, 2011
On 29 September 2011 about 1,200 miners at Freeport’s Cerro Verde mining site began a 75-day strike. The participants were scheduled to walk off their jobs at 8:30 am Eastern Time. At midnight on the same day, 8,000 miners at Freeport’s Grasberg mine...
Bulgarians defend Jews from deportation during World War II, 1941-1945
Early on in the Second World War, Bulgaria was a member of the Axis powers, having signed the Tripartite Pact on March 1, 1941. However, Bulgaria was not emotionally attached to the ideals of the major Axis powers. They simply signed on because they ...
Esquel community opposes to gold mining, Argentina, 2002-2006
In 2002 the provincial government of Chubut granted a gold mining concession to Meridian Gold, a Canadian mining company based out of Reno, Nevada, for a large open-pit gold mine just 7 kilometers from Esquel, Argentina. The local population was stro...
Iranians overthrow the Shah, 1977-79
Agitation in Iran was visible by May 1977 in predominantly intellectual circles. A group of lawyers—upset by the government’s interference in the judiciary—drafted a strongly worded manifesto chronicling the legal abuses that had occurred under the S...
Philadelphians campaign for a casino-free city, 2006-2010
Seeking extra tax revenue to bolster a struggling state budget, the United States state of Pennsylvania passed a bill in 2004 authorizing casinos in the state. The bill, Act 71, legalized the construction of 15 new casinos in the state, two of which ...
Low scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Pakistan's Azadi March to Overthrow Prime Minister, 2014
The government of Pakistan under Nawaz Sharif was widely mistrusted by its people. Prior to the parliamentary election in May of 2013, Sharif had already declared himself Prime Minister of Pakistan before citizens had even voted. In 2014, former nati...
Colombians protest Free Trade Agreement with United States, 2006
The United States proposed the enactment of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia in 2004. The United States said that, by lowering the tariffs in a few markets and by making the majority of the other markets entirely duty-free, it could become ...