Why Civil Resistance Works Summary

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My source Why Civil Resistance Works by Maria J. Stephan who is Director of Educational Initiatives at the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and Erica Chenoweth of Wesleyan and Harvard University focuses on why nonviolent methods are the best at promoting change. Using data on major nonviolent and violent resistance campaigns from 1900 to 2006, they found that “major nonviolent campaigns have achieved success 53 percent of the time, compared with 26 percent for violent resistance campaigns” (8). They say there are two reasons for the success of nonviolent campaigns. The first is “a campaign’s commitment to nonviolent methods enhances its domestic and international legitimacy and encourages more broad-based participation in the resistance,