People power

Not to be confused with Power to the people.

For the '"People Power Revolution" in the Philippines, see People Power Revolution.

See also: Street protest

"People power" is a political term used chiefly to describe the driving force of any popular social revolution instigated by wide-ranging and genuine massive street demonstrations, work stoppages and general strikes whose primary aim is to overthrow an existing government and/or political system, and features everyday people (rather than an armed forces coup d'etat or similar) as the driving force in this rebellion. Such "people power" may be nonviolent or violent in nature, or may begin as nonviolent and turn violent, such as eventually happened in Libya in 2011.

The term as currently defined was first used in the Philippines in 1986, during the revolt that toppled the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. The word is derived from the 1960's flower power movement against the Vietnam War.