Word.ws English Dictionary

3.5% rule

3.5% rule proper noun: the observation that nonviolent resistance campaigns involving at least 3.5% of the population are likely to achieve political change.

Proper noun

the 3.5% rule

  1. The observation that nonviolent resistance campaigns involving at least 3.5% of the population are likely to achieve political change.
    • Regarding the “3.5% rule”, she [Erica Chenoweth] points out that while 3.5% is a small minority, such a level of active participation probably means many more people tacitly agree with the cause.2019 May 13, David Robson, “The '3.5% rule': How a small minority can change the world”, in BBC, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2025

Questions about 3.5% rule

What does 3.5% rule mean?
3.5% rule means the observation that nonviolent resistance campaigns involving at least 3.5% of the population are likely to achieve political change.
What part of speech is 3.5% rule?
3.5% rule is a proper noun.

Words near 3.5% rule in the dictionary

  1. 3-revert rule
  2. 3-to-the-em space
  3. 3-to-the-em spaces
  4. 3-way
  5. 3-ways
  6. 3.5% rule
  7. 3/4
  8. 3/4 brother
  9. 3/4 brothers
  10. 3/4 sibling
  11. 3/4 siblings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: 3.5% rule (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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