How can a democratic polity assure the political representation of the socially disadvantageous groups and thus faithfully respond to their interests? This question implies the capacity of democracy in pursing social justice. While a great amount of literature on political process have accumulated in the past decades, there is essentially no discussion on this issue, either theoretically or empirically. This paper intends to add to the literature by examining a pollution incident in Tainan. The case indicates how the governments (local and central) and the polluter have adjusted their recovery and compensation policies in accordance with the requests of civic environmental groups who stand for the interests of local victims. This study indicates factors favoring the formation of new advocacy coalitions by civic groups and the possibility of having the interests of marginal, quiescent, and unorganized social groups be taken care of.