The 3.5% rule and today's protests

[edhopper]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3.5%25_rule

The 3.5% rule is a concept in political science that states that when 3.5% of the population of a country protest nonviolently against an authoritarian government, that government is likely to fall from power.

I think we will exceed the 12 million to achieve this. But then what?

[Rver]

1. call, write , show up at

your congress critters office. I'm sure that some of the 12 million can show up locally at a representative or senators office. We do it in Lincoln 2x a week.
My .02

NO KINGS!!!

[drray23]

2. That rule does not apply in the US and to the Trump regime.

They do not give a damm about public opinion. The only way to have effective protests would be to do what is done in other countries.
That is, not on a weekend but during the week, paralizing the economy, transportation, etc.. See Arab Spring, Orange Revolution, French Yellow vests, etc..

Each time there is a major uprising in France and people take to the streets for days, the government always has to relent.

Here, the only benefit the No King protests might have is to motivate people to go vote. It does not have any effect on the current administration.

[David__77]

6. It is true - without a big economic impact it's generally just a news story.

[edhopper]

7. And often

not even that, as the News ignores Liberal protests.

[GenThePerservering]

15. It's not a 'liberal' protest

It's a constitutional protest.

[cally]

10. I disagree

Congress is seeing the consequences of supporting the dictatorship. The Indivisible goal is to have protests all over and not just to get huge numbers in large cities. Protest is not enough but if you go, you will find lots of opportunity to get involved further.

We have already seen changes. I will also listen to the experts like Heather Cox Richardson, many, many political organizers, etc. who all stress how important today is!

[Lars39]

3. There's a difference between peaceful protests and non-violent protests.

After today’s peaceful protest? People go back to their communities and figure out how to be the sand in the cogs, ie, non-violent protests. 🙂

[Bettie]

4. So many people don't sign up

and they seem to only count signups.

We have always had drop ins.

Unfortunately, our country is so geographically large that 12 million people doesn't look like that many spread out over so many states and cities.

It's easier in Europe, for example, where nearly everyone can get to the capitol in a few hours on public transport!

We need to keep going, but expect the media to act like it was just a few small protests....nothing to see here, I mean, look at who owns the media and how hard they are fluffing that orange bag of snot.

[karynnj]

5. This time it may be the small towns that have the most impact

People know it is ALWAYS easy to get big protests in places like DC and NYC etc. it is also easier when everyone goes to one big place, even for Republicans that mostly have to come from a distance.

Here is why I think it matters in small towns and suburbs. Because most of us, especially those who are older, grew up with the maxim that you should not talk politics or religion when at neighborhood parties. Many people might think they are a minority because they don't see that others are concerned.

This would definitely apply to the upper middle class suburb that we lived in in NJ. Obviously less so in Burlington, VT where many are to the left of us and people speak out very often.

Especially if the protesters are welcoming others to join, many people who thought they were alone could see neighbors they didn't know felt like them.

[cally]

11. Indivisible has a system to do their counts

that includes experts. Yes, some guess work but it is not just sign ups but organizers give headcounts, even small protests count!

[Eddie Haskell 60]

8. I am baffled more Republicans haven't turned

They already know they will get slaughtered in the mid-terms but I can't figure out why they're not taking more action to stop the unconstitutional and unpopular war that's about to get thousands of our soldiers killed and tank our economy even more.

[edhopper]

14. Fear of Trump

seems to outweigh rational thought.

[gulliver]

9. 2013 (the study year) was an eternity ago

Social media and smart phones were not yet fully recognized as the mental and social health menaces they clearly are. We hadn't had COVID yet. We're in a completely different world.

[cally]

12. I listened to a podcast with the academicians who

first wrote about this and it was NOT one point in time but decades. And they still are working on this

[GenThePerservering]

16. It's not about instant gratification

It's the long haul.

[edhopper]

17. Not sure why you are being

a contrarian to my posts, but whatever.