Defending Democracy: Trends and Tactics

426. Why Protest Works—The 3.5% Rule with Erica Chenoweth

Harvard professor and leading expert on political resistance, Erica Chenoweth, joins us to answer a critical question: Is the United States still a democracy, or have we already slipped into authoritarianism? Professor Chenoweth lays out where we stand—and shares a powerful, evidence-based strategy for reclaiming our collective power while we still can.

-The warning signs of democratic decline—and how they’re unfolding in America right now

-How just 3.5% of the population can spark unstoppable, long-term change

-Why nonviolent resistance works—and why it’s our most underused superpower

-What it really means to defect—and how to reclaim power from authoritarian forces

Erica Chenoweth is professor at Harvard University who studies political violence and its alternatives. Erica directs the Nonviolent Action Lab, an innovation hub that provides empirical evidence in support of movement-led political transformation. Erica has authored nine books including, with Maria Stephen, Why Civil Resistance Works and Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know. Erica maintains the NAVCO Data Project, one of the world’s leading datasets on historical and contemporary mass mobilizations around the globe.