Staging a demonstration or protest against pork-barrel spending can be an effective event for general conservative groups, libertarian groups, or fiscal conservative groups. 

This event is a great way to take a visible stand against politicians’ excessive use of taxpayer dollars to fund their pet projects.  Approach this event with humor and have one, or several, members of your group dress up as pigs.  This event will draw attention. 

Find local or national pork projects that are particularly foolish or wasteful, and use posters and handouts to bring them to the attention of your fellow students.  It can also be insightful to find what bills these projects were attached to.  Often, a bill has little or nothing to do with the attached project.

This event can be held anytime, but it is most effective when it can be tied to current examples of excessive spending by politicians for projects in their districts.  You’ll find no shortage of examples for you to draw attention to, so hold politicians accountable for their actions!

HOW TO TAKE ACTION

1. Collect the materials needed for the event.  You should acquire pig costumes, or assemble materials to make pig noses, ears, and tails if you are unable to find what you need in a local costume shop.  Other necessary materials will include poster boards and other materials for signs, informational flyers, and a megaphone.

2. Select a time and location for your demonstration.  A government building such as City Hall or your state capitol building is a good location to hold this type of protest.  However, you could also hold this protest on your campus.  Wherever you choose to hold your protest or demonstration, make sure it is a highly visible location.

3. Get permission to hold your protest.  Depending where you hold your demonstration, you may need to apply for a permit, so investigate the local regulations. In general, a demonstration is permissible as long as it is on public property and does not block pedestrian, bike, or vehicle traffic. If you hold a demonstration on campus, you may need to check with the Student Activities Office first.

4. Invite allied organizations.  Ask other fiscal conservative organizations on campus or in the outside community to contribute to the purchase of supplies or join you in your protest.  This is a great way to strengthen cooperation between different groups in the conservative movement, and to increase attendance and volunteers in the form of members of the other groups.

5. Hold a planning meeting.  Before the demonstration, hold a planning meeting to make signs, create chants, design handouts, go over talking points, organize car pools, and prepare your publicity plans.  

6. Advertise!  Success depends on how well you publicize your event, so you should advertise early and often. This doesn’t necessarily mean paid advertising; “earned media” may work even better for you. Click here to learn several important publicity measures to use before, during, and after the event.

7. Prepare for opposition. Keep a video camera available at all times, and record any aggression -– both verbal and physical. If some behaves belligerently, ask why he or she objects to your exercise of your right to free speech.  For more information on how to deal with opposition on campus, reference "Fight Back."

8. Contact all group members to remind them about the protest.  This should be done the night before the event to ensure maximum attendance.

9. Demonstrate!  On the day of the protest show up early to scout out your location. Contact your car pool drivers, and make sure everything is running on schedule. When enough people arrive, stake out your location and begin your protest. Make sure group members maintain their enthusiasm throughout the event.  A couple of hours can make your point.

10. Advertise! (again) The fact that your event is over does not mean that your public relations work is done. Earned media can be extremely useful to you. Click here to learn several important follow-up publicity measures to do after the event is finished.