Question

How do citizens, both individually and collectively, influence government policy?

Answer 1

The most important part of any country is it's populace. Without people, the country ceases to function. There is no exception to this rule. So when the people are unhappy, say due to improper government policy, unrest will grow. When there is unrest, there lies the possibility of a lack of production from the people and/or a compliance from them. As stated before, without people, the country shuts down. A governing body will want to avoid this at all coast or else chaos will ensue until the people get what they want. Collectively, people are the most powerful. They're always more people living under the government, than they're those who are working for them. People can out number the government by the thousands and millions. These numbers can easily influence the government by force, or by changing the opinions of others and sewing the seeds of discord among the rest of the populace. On an individual basis, people can still have a influence on government but it rare that just one person, without anyone else backing them, ends up influencing government policy. A person who may be fighting for a just and fair policy is bound to get a following eventually. And in Democratic governments, where those may vote on policies, it's impossible to get a policy voted in if they do not have a following backing them. All in all, collectively, people influence government by being an unstoppable force that a country would fail without the compliance of. Individually, a person will have a hard time changing government policy without a collective effort. And eventually a individually effort turns into a collective one.