Protests Without Policy

When large street demonstrations lack clear, implementable demands they often function as attention‑machines (spectacle) rather than instruments of change; that dynamic makes them vulnerable to capture by media cycles, partisan actors, and institutional inertia and reduces the chance of durable policy outcomes. — If protest energy routinely prioritizes spectacle over concrete reform, civic actors and policymakers must redesign routes from street pressure to institutional change or risk recurring cycles of escalation without results.