Erica Chenoweth
Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment
Protest and Dissent
Our team explores how protest and dissent serve as vital forces in democratic societies, shaping public discourse, advancing social change, and informing scholarly research on civic participation and institutional accountability.
Related Programs
Protest and dissent are essential expressions of democratic life, enabling individuals and communities to voice grievances, demand accountability, and advocate for political and social change. Through public demonstration, artistic expression, digital activism, and other forms of collective action, dissent shapes public discourse and influences institutional reform.
Our scholars research on protest and dissent examines their role in strengthening democratic responsiveness, protecting fundamental freedoms, and navigating the tensions between authority and civic participation.
Meet The Experts
Zoe Marks
Lecturer in Public Policy
Liz McKenna
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
Soha Hammam
Research Project Manager, Nonviolent Action Lab
Christopher Shay
Research Associate, Crowd Counting Consortium
Matthew Cebul
Lead Research Fellow for the Nonviolent Action Lab, AY2025-2026
Policy Brief
Why Gen-Z Is Rising
Erica Chenoweth and Matthew Cebul analyze the global surge of Gen Z-led protest movements, showing how economic insecurity, exclusion from power, and corruption are driving youth mobilization worldwide.
Occasional Paper
Nonviolent Action Against Democratic Erosion: The United States in Comparative Perspective
In this report, Matthew Cebul, Lead Research Fellow for the Nonviolent Action Lab, examines the effectiveness of nonviolent action movements in supporting democratic resilience globally. Identifying challenges faced by nonviolent pro-democracy movements, Cebul offers key takeaways for combating accelerating democratic erosion in the US and abroad.
Article
The left knows how to have huge protests. The right knows how to win elections.
In this op-ed, Liz McKenna examines the second ‘No Kings’ protest on October 18 and offers strategies for translating successful protest movements into influential policy change. She emphasizes the importance of sustained organizational efforts alongside protest activity to engage actors across partisan lines, building a broad coalition and a durable base for the movement.
Article
The Resistance Reaches into Trump Country
As organizers for No Kings 2 seek historic turnout on October 18, the broader pro-democracy movement has already broken new ground.
Commentary
Countering Autocratization: Lessons from the 2025 Harvard Nonviolent Action Lab Summit
Feature
The Resistance Reaches into Trump Country
As organizers for No Kings 2 seek historic turnout on October 18, the broader pro-democracy movement has already broken new ground.
Commentary
American Spring? How nonviolent protest in the US is accelerating
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the size and scale of anti-Trump protests this year have dwarfed those in 2017, and they have been extraordinarily peaceful. This article was originally published in Waging Nonviolence.
Commentary
US democratic backsliding encourages repression abroad — but also protest
Matthew Cebul and Sharan Grewal explain that dictators around the world have been emboldened by the Trump administration’s abandonment of democracy and human rights norms, but crackdowns may spark stronger and more unified pro-democracy movements.
Commentary
Unlocking AI’s potential for social movements
Building effective channels for the interaction between AI developers and activist communities is critical for innovating social mobilization and strengthening civil society.
Feature
The AI and Democracy Movements Workshop: A Postscript
Erica Chenoweth shares a brief addendum to the Nonviolent Action Lab’s workshop held in December 2024 on how AI can influence social mobilization, for better or worse.
Video
Organizing and Mobilization during Democratic Backsliding
In this webinar, panelists drew upon lessons from around the world about how civil society groups can protect and promote democracy and the rule of law during episodes of democratic backsliding.
Article
Protests in the United States on Palestine and Israel, 2023–2024
From 7 October 2023 to 7 June 2024, the Crowd Counting Consortium recorded nearly 12,400 pro-Palestine protests and over 2,000 pro-Israel protests in the United States.
Podcast
Episode 8: How to Undercut Political Violence
Host Jay Ulfelder and Hardy Merriman discuss Merriman’s latest guide, titled Harnessing our Power to End Political Violence, which empowers people from all over the country to band together and support democracy by rejecting acts of political violence.
Podcast
Episode 7: Policing Protests
In Episode 7 of the Nonviolent Action Lab podcast, host Jay Ulfelder sits down with Professor Paul Passavant to discuss Passavant’s 2021 book, Policing Protest: The Post-Democratic State and the Figure of Black Insurrection.
Commentary
The Student Palestine Solidarity Movement Resumes
Crowd Counting Consortium data show a resurgence of pro-Palestinian activism at U.S. colleges and universities as students have returned to school and started probing the limits of new restrictions on campus protests.