THE RECORD OF NONVIOLENT CONFLICT

Civil resistance movements and campaigns are far more successful than is often assumed.  In every decade of the past century, on six continents, popular movements using nonviolent strategies overthrew oppressive regimes, successfully resisted military occupation, and brought justice and freedom to their societies.

Research supports this claim.  A 2005 study entitled "How Freedom is Won" found that nonviolent civic action was a key factor in driving 50 of the 67 transitions from authoritarianism between 1972 and 2005. Furthermore, it was found that freedom and stability were far more robust in societies where civil resistance played a key role in a creating a democratic transition.

A 2008 study and corresponding article entitled "Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict" compared 323 violent and nonviolent resistance campaigns from 1900 to 2006 in order to ascertain the record of violent versus nonviolent methods in achieving a resistance campaign’s objectives.

The study's findings state that “major nonviolent campaigns have achieved success 53 percent of the time, compared with 26 percent for violent resistance campaigns.”

Gandhi's struggle for Indian independence, the Danes' resistance to the Nazis in World War II, the American Civil Rights movement, the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the people power revolution in the Philippines, the campaign against General Pinochet in Chile, boycotts and strikes against apartheid in South Africa, the civilian insurrections against communism in Eastern Europe and Mongolia, and the student-led campaign that toppled Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia are only a few of the historical episodes in which nonviolent conflict was pivotal.