Prohibition, the Wars on Poverty, Drugs, Immoral Music ... not hard to find examples that match this analysis. "grassroots" is a term that gets used more often

Prohibition, the Wars on Poverty, Drugs, Immoral Music ... not hard to find examples that match this analysis. "grassroots" is a term that gets used more often than observed to be real, of poltical activists. For me it means they're people personally affected by their issue. They're the fringe of the "activist" world, always changing, hardly ever effective, but far more fun to work with than the professionals.