"Marching on Washington describes in detail six demonstrations and the protest movements behind them, beginning with Coxey's Army in 1894 and including marches for women's suffrage, veteran's bonuses, and equal opportunity, as well as the enormous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 and the anti-war protest of 1971.

These depcitions show how ambitious, skillful, and daring organizers challenged the government and claimed the capital as a political space where citizens could voice their concerns to their elected leaders. An epilogue explores marches in Washington since 1971.".

"On a broader level, Barber describes the strategic uses of demonstration to exercise the power of American citizenship and to include a more diverse population. At the same time, the history of marching on Washington is a story of changing access to public space, of the conflict between the right to assembly and the need for security.

It is a fascinating account of how citizens project their plans and demands on national government, how they build support for their causes, and how they act out their own visions of national politics."--BOOK JACKET.