Also what these articles always fail to consider: Usually protests become violent when peaceful protests have failed. So violent protests often face something that is much harder to change/politicians are more unwilling to change. So of course they are less often successful. Not because they are less effective, but because the nature of their demands is different.

Came to the comments to say In Time. I always have to remind myself how bad it was, because I really like the concept, so the movie tends to be much better in my head than it actually is as I keep adding things that weren’t there.

No. There were 6 popes who hadn’t been cardinals. Although it’s been a few hundred years since the last one (Urban VI., elected in 1378).