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Our Democracy is Worth Defending

Why Protest Matters Today

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:

  • What is the role of protests in countering authoritarianism?

  • Are protests enough?

  • What are the stages of a resistance movement?

  • 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.

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