Pillars of Support

In both the United States and abroad, political leaders have undermined democratic institutions and norms as part of a nearly two-decade global trend of rising authoritarianism. To challenge these threats, research shows we need social movements involving broad, diverse coalitions that are tactically innovative and united around a shared strategy of success. These movements also need a clear understanding of the complex systems they are challenging.

One valuable approach for comprehending this complexity is the “Pillars of Support” framework. The pillars framework can be summarized in a simple image: a roof held up by several pillars. The roof represents a political system’s leaders, while the pillars represent the key organizations or institutions that give those leaders the resources and legitimacy they need to exercise power. The model rests on two insights: power in any social or political system is something that flows up from below, and this flow almost always takes place through specific institutions. If we can identify those institutions and the resources they provide to the authoritarian system, then we can understand how power operates in that system and be better equipped to change it.

Horizons is conducting a set of research projects to better understand the pillars of support for authoritarianism in the US and how they can be incentivized to support pro-democracy behavior using insights from historical cases in the US and around the world. Through extensive discussions with partners, Horizons has identified five primary pillars of focus: business, faith communities, professional groups, labor, and veterans’ groups. No single framework can fully capture the complexity of the authoritarian system, but through carefully analyzing the key resources and pillars that sustain authoritarianism, pro-democracy organizers can more strategically go on offense to advance a more just, inclusive democracy.

For more details about our pillars-focused research and organizing, we have developed this short, 5-min video focused on what pillars of support are, why they matter, and what it means to both engage and pressure key pillars as part of pro-democracy organizing that reaches beyond the base.

You can also:

Learn more about how we applied this framework to individual states

Develop your personal strategy for taking pro-democracy action with our defections toolkit

Keep up to date with pillar-specific acts of acts of protest and noncooperation happening in the US today, and follow Choose Democracy’s Resist List.

Find caselets from around the world illustrating the impact of pillars in different movements

Go deeper with detailed reports and articles about the pillars of support

Visualize the diverse array of potential tactics each pillar could adopt with the table on this page