• DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    wp:Maria Stephan

    The authors coined a rule about the level of participation necessary for a movement to succeed, called the “3.5% rule”: nearly every movement with active participation from at least 3.5% of the population succeeded.[8][9] All of the campaigns that achieved that threshold were nonviolent.[10]

    • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      I have read books by Mark Penn and Malcolm Gladwell, which talk about that magical 3.5% as a “Tipping Point” that can kick off a trend. It’s not guaranteed, but historical records indicate that it takes at least 3.5% to reach critical mass.

      In America, that’s about 11.5 - 12 million people.

      • DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        FWIW, the rightists seem to have picked up on a similar number:

        wp:Three Percenters

        The group’s name derives from the erroneous[6][7] claim that “the active forces in the field against the King’s tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists” during the American Revolution.[8]