CITIZENS' MOVEMENT

A group of people who act collectively to affect social change by using their right to political expression in order to criticize governments and thereby influence political decisions.

"The citizens' movement wants to remain exactly that: a movement. So far, it has suffered no temptations to transform itself into a political party, much less a ‘revolutionary' party, and its members come from a variety of party political backgrounds or, frequently, none at all. The tacit bet is that it is still possible to work through existing political structures."
(George, S., The Global Citizens Movement. A New Actor For a New Politics, 2001, visited 2009-06-04)

"Socio-economic change and the growth in political awareness have seen the role that the non-profit sector plays in democratic societies increase over the past two decades. Citizens' movements and NGOs are seeking better representation in the political process and governments have begun to encourage more actively participation by citizenry in the decision-making process at the local, national and supranational levels."
(United Nations University, Involving Citizens' Movements and NGOs in the Democratic Process, 2005, visited 2009-06-08)

These movements are usually formed by groups of citizens not affiliated with traditional political parties or organized interest groups such as trade unions. They seek to influence policy-making and to denounce any lack of transparency on the national or international level.

Citizens' movements put their public interest-oriented actions above their internal organization or representativeness. Unlike citizens' committees, their activism, which aims to defend citizens' rights in general, is not limited to a single cause and can be classified as a type of popular movement. In the context of globalization, more and more citizens' movements are expanding their criticism to multinational companies, denouncing the latter's attack on democracy.