Nonviolent movements are statistically more effective at combatting authoritarianism than violent resistance.
Anyone can engage in nonviolent action: from quiet acts of disruption to consumer boycotts to walkouts to large-scale protests. When you get large numbers of people engaged in these acts of defiance and building of alternatives, they can take power back from a repressive regime.
Nonviolent resistance makes repression backfire. When governments use violence against nonviolent movements, it tends to backfire as more people condemn the government’s use of force and shift their support away from the regime.
Nonviolent tactics attract people and lead to “defections” within institutions sustaining authoritarian regimes—think military, civil service, businesses, faith communities, media, unions, or the judiciary. We’re already seeing these acts of defiance tick up, and when one person takes a public stand, the momentum starts to build.
Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict
Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan
Videos
Trainings
- Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence
- Freedom Trainers
- International Center on Nonviolent Conflict
- Hands Off NYC
- Campaign Nonviolence
- The Faithful Fight: Toolkits for Countering Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism and Democracy Resources
- Hold the Line: A Guide to Defending Democracy
- Confronting Authoritarianism: A Community-Led Approach to Revitalizing Democracy
- Combatting Authoritarianism: The Skills and Infrastructure Needed to Organize Across Difference
- Democracy in a Box
- Pro-Democracy Organizing against Autocracy in the United States: A Strategic Assessment & Recommendations
Nonviolent Action News and Resources
Articles
- Big Tents and Collective Action Can Defeat Authoritarianism
- Lessons from Around the World: Engaging ‘Pillars of Support’ to Uphold and Expand Democracy
- Clowns, Reverse Boycotts, and Involuntary Walkathons: How Communities are Making Political Violence Backfire
- When Loyalties Shift: Americans’ Growing Noncooperation with Federal Abuses of Power
- The Global Far-Right Authoritarian Alliance Threatening US Democracy – And How to Weaken It
- For US Independence Day, January 6th Hearings Reveal Authoritarianism’s Achilles Heel
- Combatting Authoritarianism: The Skills and Infrastructure Needed to Organize Across Difference
- America’s Democracy Moment
- How Domestic Civic Movements Could Reshape US Foreign Policy
- Nonviolent Civic Action May Help Defend the Integrity of the Election
- The 6 superpowers that faith communities bring to nonviolent struggle
- We are stronger than we think
- How we can meet the challenges of authoritarianism
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Multiple Lanes to Multiracial Democracy
- It’s time to take inspiration from Ukraine and double down on global democratic solidarity
- Faith and the Authoritarian Playbook
- 10 Ways Christians Can Protect Democracy
- Can Multiracial Democracy Survive?
- In Ukraine, Civil Resistance is Led by Unarmed Civilians
- Why Today’s Protests Are Easier to Start…and Less …
- The Price of Freedom
- How Can We Help the Nonviolent Struggle in Syria?
- Resisting ISIS
- U.S. Catholics are facing an authoritarian threat. The church has been here before
- Preparing for a November Surprise
- Authoritarianism is Making a Comeback: Here’s a Time Tested Way to Defeat it
- Staying True to Yourself in the Age of Trump: A How-to Guide for Federal Employees
- The battle against fascism in Florida: Lessons on how to beat back authoritarianism from abroad
For more resources on nonviolent action, check out Maria J. Stephan’s personal website. https://www.mariajstephan.us/