It has been since the 1960's have we seen such political upheaval. Some of the issues were different, the war in Viet Nam was front and center in most protest while our involvement in the Middle East hardly gets a mention. Race, of course, is still a protest go-to and now attacks on capitalism are more prevalent. 

So might say that the 1960's propelled us into the life we are living today and thus were effective. Others might say that it was just a brief youthful rebellion and things settled down and what we are seeing today is the same or similar.