In opting for pinprick strikes, United Nations commanders operated on the assumption that the Serbs would be impressed by symbolic demonstrations of power.

Even a senior Administration official who joined Mr. Clinton on his trans-Atlantic dash said its main purpose was to offer "a symbolic demonstration" of American commitment to the organization and to Europe.

"There comes a time when, after a reasonable amount of time for symbolic demonstration, they have to come down," he said.

This was a symbolic demonstration of the people's call for independence from the Soviet Union.

Known as the Polar Bridge expedition, the undertaking was hailed by both governments as a symbolic demonstration of the possibilities for peaceful cooperation in the Arctic.

Although a significant number of those present did not see the value of the symbolic demonstration, several protesters and native activists formed a circle around the fire while police officers moved in to pull them apart.

The documents suggest that the prisoners did not apply for clemency themselves as a symbolic demonstration of their political credo that they have not accepted the authority of the United States Government.

"Our Western ballet is a clear if complex blending of human anatomy, solid geometry and acrobatics offered as a symbolic demonstration of manners-the morality of consideration for one human being moving in time with another."

It wasn't the time to explain the British ban on 'gathering,' their infuriating anti-assembly strictures; the hysterical eight-year-old was too young to appreciate this symbolic demonstration for freedom of expression.

They can be as varied as symbolic demonstrations, petitioning a supervisor for changes, filing strategic grievances, slowdowns or working to rule.