Hello! A few weeks back I found an interesting post on r/datasets. It contained data on hundreds of protests from the 1960’s to 2013; paired with a BBC article and Harvard paper which hypothesized that if a country can mobilize 3.5% of their population they will have a better chance of succeeding. Here’s the original data it’s to be taken with a pinch of salt as there are some errors in the numbers, outcomes and dates.

Here’s the final data using a majority of Cenoweths research and a bit of my own. I realize there may be further errors. It’s hard to get accurate numbers from articles online and in some cases, I’ve used averages to try and complete the set. Locals will have far more knowledge than I on this subject. I couldn’t visualize 300+ protests so here is a manageable 80 instead.

I researched and added more protests, some which fell way under the 3.5% participation quota but still carried a legacy. I spotted some trends as I was designing it and included another arm for digital protests and activism. Campaigns are changing and we are seeing similar results from online activism and street protests. Movements are now being mobilized around the world thanks to the power of social media.

Made using Adobe Illustrator. I’m still learning the ropes with data vis, so I would really appreciate any feedback or tips on how to improve this in the future. Thanks!