Have Protests Decreased in Effectiveness?

No Kings Protest, 2025. Photo credits: Youtube

Since the beginning of time, people have rallied, protested, and revolted against issues in society. As students, we are always learning about them in class - from peasants’ revolts to civil rights movements in the 1960s - and oftentimes, they feel so distant and unrelatable to us. In reality, such movements have played a huge part in getting us many of the rights and privileges that we take for granted today, and they are still essential to justice and social change.  Though methods of protesting may have changed throughout centuries, the core idea basically remains the same: the end goal is reform. Yet in history, it seems like protests are this epic defiant act whereas the protests we read in the news today are not so immediately impactful.  I guess my question is, why does it seem like protests today are less effective than in the past?

Since there has been societal order, there have been protests. However, not all protests look the same or are created equal. Often, successful protests have certain qualities in common, such as size, a defined message, and a common complaint. This seems quite obvious; for example, a protest against increasing grocery prices for the majority of the population would clearly gain more support than a protest about international policies.

You would think that a random protest is more likely to fail today than 200 years ago. Over time, as it gets easier and easier to rally protests with the help of social media and technology, the value of each event goes down. One hypothesis is that because it is increasingly easier to start a protest, there is not as much planning and structure that goes into every movement because they are more normalized to us. 

the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Photo credits: Bruce Davidson

One of the most culturally relevant movements in history is the 1960s civil rights movements, which fought for the rights and equality of African Americans in the US. One example of a “protest” within this movement is the March on Washington, which gathered over 200,000 people of all races to march peacefully in Washington DC for job equality and civil rights legislation (source: History). This march is also where Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech took place. The successes of this protest are based on the careful planning and motivation for the march, which began being talked about as early as 1941, two decades prior, but was cancelled. The issue that was targeted – job equality for African Americans – was also deeply systematic and had plagued Black Americans since the ratification of the 13th amendment a decade prior. This moment is commonly regarded as a major historical triumph, as it brought the Civil Rights Movement to new lengths and directly granted acts such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which secured legal protection for African Americans against discrimination.

Recently, a major protest went into action in 2025: the No Kings movement, protesting the current presidency. Protests all over America occurred over a few different dates, with the October protests drawing over 7 million people. Despite its apparent success, there was a slew of online critiques, such as its disorganization, insensitive signs, and how people showed up with no clear motive for change.

Although the March on Washington has a long standing legacy, it was also heavily criticized at the time, even by significant historical figures in the Civil Rights Movement such as Malcom X (source: the Autobiography of Malcom X). These criticisms resemble those of the No Kings protests last year: that the execution of the movement strayed from the original goals, how it was disorganized, and even how it was like a status symbol for people. Yet now, it is rare to hear about the shortcomings of historical successes. The march’s effect is undeniable: it caused leaders of the movement to meet with president Kennedy and vice president Johnson to discuss the necessity of civil rights and legislation. These actions directly granted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 (source: Stanford). 

So while the statistical effectiveness of protests as a whole may have gone down over time, and this is largely due to the increasing ease of starting protests, when you truly compare contemporary movements to those in the past, it is clear that protests will never be perfectly executed, but will always hold a deep value in calling for change in society. If anything, it is an amazing thing that we have the opportunity and privileges to start, join, and support protests, and to make changes in our society. A society is only as good as the people in it, and if anything, I hope this article encourages you to potentially do something about an issue in your community.