There has been much controversy over the most effective protest strategies for creating change. While many believe that violent protests are most successful because they attract more media attention due to their violent nature, nonviolent, peaceful civil resistance is more successful. Although media attention is essential to accelerate a campaign, peaceful protests continue to receive significant media attention. Civil resistance occurs when a group of people uses nonviolent resistance to protest an idea, law, government, or action. Peaceful demonstrations, such as hunger strikes, sit-ins, marches and civil resistance, have proven to be the most effective forms of protest. Nonviolent civil resistance is the most effective form of protest for creating change because it cannot be easily suppressed by government force, it is inclusive, and it has higher success rates in creating change than violent demonstrations. Peaceful protests like the one at Kent State in Vietnam would have the potential to be very effective without a violent government response, and the Arab Spring uprising became more powerful because of the violent government response. Many successful campaigns and movements such as the Haitian Rebellion and the Montgomery Bus Boycott were both successful protests that led to social and political change for many African Haitians and African Americans. The effectiveness of nonviolent civil resistance can be seen in these cases. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Throughout history, the government has had many opportunities to use violence as a means to achieve a certain goal. Whether in war or in the streets to silence the masses, governments have killed and injured thousands upon thousands of nonviolent protesters. Even if it works at the time, the government's violent suppression of nonviolent campaigns is not effective because it often backfires. The 1970 Kent State University shootings and the Arab Spring uprising exemplify this. On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, approximately 2,000 students gathered to peacefully protest the participation of the United States of America in the Vietnam War. National Guard troops fired on protesters, killing 4 people and injuring 9 others. The United States government received a lot of backlash because of this and its suppression of the Kent State protest and killing of innocent, unarmed students led to student strikes, the shutdown of more than 450 campuses nationwide, mass protests and riots nationwide. Although it is rare for government officials to respond violently to peaceful protests, it happens occasionally and citizens very rarely turn a blind eye. It is much more controversial for government officials to violently suppress a peaceful protest than a violent one. It is understandable that government officials would attempt to stop a violent protest because it poses a threat to the safety of innocent civilians. However, peaceful protests do not pose a threat to anyone's safety because no violence is used against anyone or The Arab Spring is another examplesignificant of a government facing a blowback after repressing non-violent demonstrators. While citizens were able to overthrow Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak through protests, Syrian citizens were not as successful. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad responded to the peaceful protest by murdering and incarcerating protesters. The Syrian government's repression of Syrian protesters did not end their movement, but rather strengthened and intensified it (Chenoweth, 2011). This intensification of a nonviolent campaign backfires on the government for failing to achieve its goal of repressing citizens and preventing them from disseminating knowledge to create change. Although it can be argued that nonviolent protest is effective to the extent that government repression is rarely successful and almost always backfires against the government, it is also effective because of its strong ability to gain participants . Many might argue that without people's participation in a protest or movement, there is no protest or movement. This is true because when it comes to a protest or movement, the number of participants in the campaign is crucial in determining its outcome (Weinstein, 2007). Chenoweth and Stephan studied participation in violent and nonviolent campaigns. Data showed that the average nonviolent campaign had approximately 200,000 participants, while a violent campaign had approximately 5,000 participants (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2013: 32-33). This means that for every violent campaign participant, there would be forty non-violent campaign participants. Campaigns require many participants for their knowledge, resources, and willingness to support resistance and recruit more support. There are many reasons why nonviolent protests garner more support than violent protests, but it all comes down to risk. When it comes to violent protests, one might ask: do the ends justify the means? Is the use of violence and the risk of getting in trouble with the law or getting hurt worth it? Although some will say yes, most will say no. This is why violent demonstrations often do not bring together as many participants as non-violent demonstrations (Denardo, 2016: 58). Another reason nonviolent protests have more participants than violent protests is [1] the physical demands of violent campaigns. Often, joining a violent campaign requires physical abilities such as endurance, agility, isolation from society and potentially the willingness to use a firearm (Chenoweth and Stephan, 2013: 35). Not everyone has these abilities, wants to have them, or has the time to acquire them. It takes less physical ability to participate in a nonviolent protest than a violent one, making it feasible for people in demographic groups who would not typically participate in a protest if it were violent, such as women. and older people (Chenoweth and Stephan, 2013: 35). Other groups who may choose to participate in a nonviolent campaign before a violent campaign include: people with disabilities, youth, and parents and their children, as they are more accessible and require less physical effort. Nonviolent protests are effective when they have many participants and have higher success rates than violent protests. All campaigns have a..