Op-ed | Peaceful protests by 3.5% of the population is almost always successful

Peaceful protests matter more than most people think. Researchers have found that nearly every nonviolent movement with active participation from at least 3.5 % of the population has succeeded in bringing down an authoritarian regime or radically changing government policy. In fact, the evidence is so strong that the study refers to the concept as the “3.5% Rule.”

The 3.5% rule was developed in 2013 by Erica Chenoweth of Harvard University, assisted with foundational research by Maria Stephan and Christopher Shay. Their results were published in their book, “Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict.” They studied 323 worldwide occurrences of violent and nonviolent campaigns to overthrow national leaders or create independent territory between 1900 and 2006. T