In response to Alston’s entry on conservative activism (which I largely agree with), I think it is important to clarify what is meant by the term “activism.” I’ve organized a fair amount of “activist” events through my work with the Bucknell University Conservatives Club as well as with some conservative organizations in DC since graduating. Activism can take a variety of forms, some good and some bad. As for the differences between liberal and conservative activism, there are two points worth noting. For the most part, I’ve observed that conservative activists are more clever than their liberal counterparts. Conservative students might hold an affirmative-action bake sale, for example, which is vastly more thought-provoking than, say, a progressive student group taking over an administrative building or chanting “hey, hey, ho, ho, (insert liberal cause here).” Conservative activists are, on the whole, also much more respectful of laws and property than liberal protesters. I agree totally with Alston that conservatives should not become lazy and use activism as a crutch. But activism, used properly, can spark debate on campus and be very positive. For example, imagine that a campus conservative wants to bring in a speaker on global warming. It’s a hot topic, but the truth is that it’s a hard sell to college kids to get them to voluntarily attend a public-policy lecture (they have homework and a social life to attend to). A great lecturer could come and go without most of the campus taking notice of the event, let alone engaging in the debate. An alternative could be activism — perhaps a global-warming beach party. This activist stunt would garner media attention, capture students’ interest, and get people talking about the issue, but has less substance than a lecture. My ideal compromise (and a fabulous strategy for campus conservatives) is to do both. Do a clever conservative activist event to get people to pay attention to whatever issue you want to promote, then bring in a speaker, host a debate, or write about the issue extensively in a school paper to back up the activism with substance. If you do that, more people will attend the lecture and more people will talk about the issue around campus.