Our Democracy is worth defending.
Why protest matters today
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Presented by Erica Chenoweth
Political Scientist and author of
Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know.
Prof. Chenoweth’s research is the basis of the “3.5% rule.”
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​America is facing an unprecedented authoritarian threat. What can we learn from the experiences of other movements around the world that have faced this threat?
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Prof. Chenoweth researches nonviolent anti-authoritarian movements around the world to discover how and why they succeed or fail. This research is the basis for the claim that no government has withstood a challenge of 3.5% of their population mobilizing against it during a peak event (the “3.5% rule”).
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Among the topics Prof Chenoweth discussed are:​
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What is the role of protests in countering authoritarianism?
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Are protests enough?
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What are the stages of a resistance movement?
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What is the relationship of civil resistance to electoral politics?
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Chenoweth’s research has been featured in The New Yorker, The New YorkTimes, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs,The Economist, and The Boston Globe, among others.
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Erica Chenoweth Explains Why Protest Matters Today
July 24, 2025
Q&A Session With Erica Chenoweth
Tom Hallock, Force Multiplier Co-Chair, Moderator
July 24, 2025
The Chenoweth event raised money for the Piper Fund’s Right to Protest Program.
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The right to dissent and protest – a pillar of an inclusive democracy – is under attack. The current administration has made clear that it sees dissenters as “the enemy within” and will act aggressively – and outside of established legal and due process norms – to silence such voices.
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Force Multiplier will continue to look for ways to support the right to protest.