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The tide of authoritarianism is rising across the world, and U.S. leaders from a range of political persuasions recognize the threat to democracy. Yet many democracy advocates, trained to “speak truth to power,” have doubled down on strategies that aren’t working as well as they used to.
To prevail, we need to shed some preconceived notions about how change happens and learn from pro-democracy movements in U.S. history and around the world.
What we know:
Legal action, while still important, isn’t going as far as it used to. Many advocates who have led social-change efforts during the past three decades came of age in an exceptional period of U.S. history. Thanks to the civil rights movement, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and related laws created the country’s first multiracial democracy. But what we’ve taken to be the norm is actually an exception — the franchise has been available to all regardless of race for less than a quarter of the country’s history since the Constitution was adopted.
Activists trained in this atypical era made progress in the courts because mass movements brought about changes in social norms. But as reactionary movements have scored political victories and unwound the cultural consensus, the courts have become increasingly hostile terrain, ruling to roll back the Voting Rights Act, enable political gerrymandering, and restrict hard-won gains such as women’s reproductive rights. In this context, while legal strategies will continue to be an important part of the pro-democracy tool box, we need to recognize their very real limitations.
Rational, fact-based arguments aren’t moving politicians or the public. A vast policy and research infrastructure operates on the premise that decision makers use evidence to shape agendas and laws. While some policymakers remain part of the “reality-based community,” their numbers are shrinking.
Similarly, rational arguments aren’t gaining purchase with our fellow citizens. The assumption that people weigh evidence about whose policies will most benefit them, for example, is not supported by, well, the evidence.
Mass mobilizations rarely win and sustain policy change. Social media makes it possible to quickly mobilize large protests, but research shows these efforts lack the ability to win or maintain policy changes over time. Decision makers simply wait them out, knowing that without a durable organizational infrastructure, the threat will eventually fizzle.
What’s Worked Before
The great British economist John Maynard Keynes once said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” As conditions have changed, pro-democracy forces must change our strategies.
The good news is that we can draw upon a long tradition of effective social change rooted in battles against authoritarianism both in the United States before 1965 and globally. The key lesson from this tradition: Rather than “speak truth to power,” democracy advocates must build power of their own.
Keys to that are:
Organizing in communities, churches, and workplaces: While history books often focus on court victories, the civil rights movement’s gains were grounded in organizing. Scholar Charles Payne described the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s work in Mississippi as “slow and respectful”; its organizers patiently built relationships, met regularly with local leaders, and prepared them to walk together to register to vote despite the ever-present threat and reality of white violence. This slow-build approach is vastly different from the rapid mobilizations made possible by social media.
Recruiting from core parts of society, even when the terrain may seem hostile: Advocates must work in churches, businesses, and even law enforcement and the military, which might seem daunting. But the best organizing aims to fashion a bigger “we” by recruiting to the cause potential converts as well as believers. Organizers and activists throughout history, perceiving an existential threat from fascism, have skillfully forged alliances with former opponents to build necessary majorities. Building broad coalitions — what many experts refer to as a “popular front” — was crucial to the recent success of Polish and Brazilian activists who defeated autocratic regimes threatening their democracies as well as the resistance to the far-right takeover in France. The impulse to bridge and welcome, rather than shun and exclude, is essential to preserving and strengthening democracy.
Engaging in civic engagement work: This is especially true for vulnerable communities, who are always the first targets of authoritarian regimes when they take power. But how this work is done matters.
In recent years, community organizations and unions have played a crucial role because they have pre-existing relationships of trust. They can speak convincingly to neighbors and fellow citizens about challenges in their community. These organizations also can invite their communities to become members and encourage participation in local and state issues — something political parties and candidates almost never do. In an age of cynicism about politics, authentic community connections are the most valuable currency of all.
Relearning how to disrupt the day-to-day functioning of anti-democratic forces and systems: Most protests today aren’t disruptive at all; oppressive systems continue on without missing a beat. True disruption stops systems from functioning, at least for a time.
Workplace strikes of the kind used brilliantly by the United Auto Workers last year are a classic example. The 1960s civil rights victories that brought an end to legal segregation similarly challenged the profits of white business owners through campaigns like Project C in Birmingham. Organizers crippled white supremacist institutions using Freedom Rides and lunch-counter sit-ins, tactics that seized the moral high ground and attracted allies. While disruption can make many people uncomfortable, it has long been an integral part of how change is achieved on crucial issues over time.
Remembering that even in authoritarian contexts, everyday people always have power: The functioning of society depends on everyday people’s obedience to the rules. Today’s activists can be trained in the techniques of nonviolent civil resistance and supported through mutual aid strategies like bail funds to challenge the rules, and even risk arrest when necessary.
Authoritarian movements worldwide are following a playbook familiar from history, persecuting vulnerable groups, scaring moderates out of participation in politics, and shutting down avenues of dissent. Pro-democracy movements can win the future, but to do so they’ll need to expand their repertoire and foreground the proven strategies long used by working-class people to change the world.
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