grass roots
From ordinary people
Grass roots refers to ordinary people rather than political leaders or other elites—the base level of society or an organization.
A grass-roots movement or campaign emerges from common citizens rather than being organized from the top down: The candidate built support at the grass roots.
Also spelled grassroots.
- community organizingCollective local civic engagement
- folkRegular common people
- communityCollective of connected people
- boots on the groundMilitary presence in area
- door to doorVisiting each residence sequentially
get out the vote · civic engagement · local · base · mutual aid · bottom-up · ground up · from the bottom · word-of-mouth · town hall meetings · neighborhood · block party · small town · local leadership · labor · working class · ordinary people · rank-and-file
- activismboycotts, activists, activist, advocate, demonstrating
- political jargonfilibuster, gerrymandering, caucus, pork barrel, lame duck
- Soilsoil, topsoil, subsoil, dirt, loam
- root wordsbase, foundation, source, origin, cause
grass rootstop-down
Directed from highest level
top-level · from the top · hierarchical · centralized · from on high
grass rootsestablishment
Founded organization or venue
elite · institutional · official · mainstream · insider