Global Voices Spotlight: Protest in Democracy. Collage made via Canva. Photos Public Domain.

Protest is a fundamental right, a form of free expression, and a critical means of expressing dissent. Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, protest is a vital component of democratic societies and a means of addressing societies that are not democratic. Protest has historically helped secure many of the rights we take for granted today — weekends, fair pay, unions, women’s right to vote, and many more

Despite the legal basis for the right to protest and its importance to functioning governance, peaceful protest is often curtailed or prohibited, and protesters are painted as illegitimate. Environmental protestors are vilified as “eco-terrorists,” racial justice protestors are derided as “thugs” or “anarchists,” and government critics are dismissed as unpatriotic “foreign agents.”

Protest itself is increasingly complicated, taking many different forms, encompassing a wide variety of issues, and sometimes raising thorny ethical problems in its own right. It can be weaponized by groups who wish to curtail the rights of others, and violence frequently erupts — sometimes as a response to violence from the state, and sometimes for other reasons. Protest isn’t just marching, chanting, or waving signs, though all of those can be powerful — it can take many forms, from online organizing and boycotts to songs, art, and politically directed pranks.

While many governments employ political, discursive attacks to discredit protestors, some respond to peaceful protests with violence, often inflaming the situation. For example, when government forces responded violently to student protests in Bangladesh in July 2024, then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government moved to discredit the demonstrators, blaming opposition parties for the ongoing violence and threatening further crackdowns against political opponents. This move enraged protestors and intensified the bloodshed, resulting in around 1,400 deaths and leading to the eventual fall of the Hasina government. Similarly, in August 2025, Indonesian police violently broke up a peaceful student protest, resulting in the death of a bystander. The isolated student protests soon became a nationwide movement across the archipelago as citizens pushed back against officials’ use of violence. Similar cases unfolded with Gen-Z protests throughout India, Nepal, Kenya, Albania, Madagascar, Peru, and more.

Often the curtailing of peaceful protest is a sign that a democracy is on the decline or under threat. However, these cases also demonstrate that organized protests can be a powerful force for social change.

With this spotlight, we seek to explore the many forms of protest, the tactics states use to delegitimize and suppress them, and the complex relationship between protest and democracy.