This week, I attended the Table Talk event about social protest and American Democracy with House Fellow Ken Roberts.  This was a very interesting event and a great chance to discuss the impact of our current climate of protest.  Roberts stressed just how large the current protest cycle is, being a large movement and countermovement that has attracted more people than other protests almost even back to the 1960’s.  In addition, he discussed the important role that protests play in the fabric of our democracy.  One idea which he brought up was the cyclical nature of protests.  Protests often gain momentum but, over time, their activity decreases until another instigating event occurs.  I was surprised when he reminded us that issues from just a year ago, such as gun control, are now not even talked about in the presidential debates and campaigns.  While this is probably in part due to the unique state of the world right now, it is fascinating to think about.  This event left me wondering about how effective protests really are in enacting actual policy change, yet I realized that, while policy change might not always occur, protests bring major issues into public attention.  Often, this is just as important.  Overall, I enjoyed talking about these important issues in a conversational setting with Roberts and the three other Rose Scholars that attended this event.