Erica Chenoweth
Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment
Nonviolent Action Lab
Understanding how nonviolent action can achieve democratic aims.
Related Programs
Crowd Counting Consortium, Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes Data Project, Women in Resistance Data Project
Nonviolent resistance movements defended democratic values and institutions throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. However, the trend seems to have shifted. Over the past decade, authoritarian backsliding has occurred across the globe, and mass movements demanding democracy have been defeated in about 90% of cases since 2010.
The Nonviolent Action Lab is an innovation hub for activists, researchers, and supporters who share common goals around defending and advancing democracy worldwide through civil resistance — protests, demonstrations, and other actions. The Lab produces and disseminates up-to-date knowledge on nonviolent action, how it works, and global trends in success and failure.
“Authoritarianism is winning — particularly against pro-democracy movements. Movements need a new playbook for responding to these developments![]()
Erica Chenoweth
Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment
AI and Democracy Movements Project
The AI and Democracy Movements Project explores the impacts of AI on the strategy, operations, and outcomes of pro-democratic social movements.
Now Streaming: Nonviolent Action Lab Podcast
The new Nonviolent Action Lab Podcast brings you the latest research, insights, and ideas on how nonviolent action can — or sometimes fails — to transform injustice. Each week, Nonviolent Action Lab’s Jay Ulfelder welcomes experts from the field, scholars, organizers, and advocates to discuss nonviolent movements around the world. Find new episodes listed below, via Simplecast, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Meet the Team
Freddy Guevara
Democracy Visiting Fellow, AY2024-2025
Soha Hammam
Nonviolent Action Lab Research Associate
Thomas Hayes
Fellow, Nonviolent Action Lab
Jie (Jason) Lian
Democracy Visiting Fellow, AY2024-2025
Isabella Picón
Research Fellow, Spring 2025
The latest news, resources, and research
Commentary
AI-powered bots and electoral participation: a view from the Venezuelan experience
Drawing from her experience deploying an AI-powered chatbot to share accurate voting information during Venezuela’s recent election, Isabella Picón explains how AI technologies can enhance electoral participation and support pro-democracy movements.
Commentary
Using AI Now to Improve Movements’ Effectiveness: A Basic Introduction Guide for Social Activists
Freddy Guevara offers a fundamental playbook for social activists on how to augment advocacy efforts with artificial intelligence technologies
Feature
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.
Occasional Paper
How AI Can Support Democracy Movements: Summary Report of a Research and Practice Workshop
Democracy movements are struggling to challenge autocratic governments, partly due to the changing technology landscape. This report summarizes a December 2024 workshop on the specific issue of AI adoption within democracy movements and offers some key recommendations.
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.
Commentary
Overview of Protest Activity Around the 2024 Democratic National Convention
Podcast
Episode 6: What happened in Venezuela’s elections?
In this episode, host Jay Ulfelder sits down with Nonviolent Action Lab Research Fellow Freddy Guevara to discuss the outcome of Venezuela’s elections and what that means for the state of democracy in the country.
Commentary
The Real Numbers: Tracking Crowd Sizes at Presidential Rallies
This post uses the Crowd Counting Consortium’s data on U.S. protest activity since 2017 to estimate and compare the average size of the crowds at political rallies featuring Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and, since late July 2024, Kamala Harris.
Video
Political Violence and the 2024 Presidential Election
This webinar convened scholars and practitioners in a conversation about how to de-escalate and sideline election-related violence in the wake of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
Podcast
Episode 5: Independent Protest Journalism
Host Jay Ulfelder sits down with journalists Talia Jane, Raven, and Sean Beckner-Carmitchel to discuss the impact of independent journalism on protest activity and social movements.