Resources

*By Adam Fefer 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. From the...

The Tunisian General Labour Union’s (UGTT) well-established and far-reaching infrastructure enabled it to play an indispensable role in Tunisia’s revolution. While the UGTT was originally a core pillar upholding autocracy...

Jair Bolsonaro won the 2018 election in large part because of support from Evangelicals, which had the surprising and encouraging impact of galvanizing pro-democracy efforts by Catholics, despite norms enforced...

The armed forces served as a key pillar propping up President Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship in the Philippines from 1965-86. After another unfree election in 1986, a dissatisfied military faction, called...

One key target of democratic backsliding in Hungary is the education system. The dismissal of five teachers in 2022 for striking galvanized tens of thousands of teachers, parents, and students...

Despite their small size, Quakers served as an important pillar in undoing the US’ authoritarian, exclusive status quo as part of the civil rights movement. Largely through the American Friends...

Brazil became less free and democratic during Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency from 2019-2022, culminating in a January 6th style attack where Bolsonaro supporters attempted to disrupt the transfer of power to...

Addressing complex challenges like authoritarian resurgence, political violence, and systemic racism requires multiple approaches and learning across communities and disciplines. The Horizons Project is committed to curating and synthesizing insights...

Business and Democracy “Capitalism can’t work without well-functioning governments that design rules to enable innovation and markets, ensure competition, and address social problems.” — Anat Admati, Stanford Economist & Business...

The Horizons Project Director for Race & Democracy, Jarvis Williams, has a conversation with Shun Tucker-Allen, Senior Faith Partnerships Coordinator at Fair Count about her work organizing with faith communities...

The Horizons Project and Beyond Conflict partnered to create this video on ‘The Brain on Authoritarianism’ to support broad-based “united front” organizing in response to the rising authoritarian threat in...

Witnessing the violence from the National Guard against peaceful protesters at Standing Rock, and wanting to use their experience and social capital, veterans organized a campaign to protect protesters from...

During Venezuela's 2000 election, opposition parties had a strong showing. This competitive atmosphere helped opponents raise awareness of Chávez’s undemocratic attempts to consolidate power. Although he won the election, some...

After observing federal agents escalate conflict against Christopher David, a Navy veteran, during the 2020 protests against police brutality and systemic racism, a group of veterans organized through Facebook and...

Following the January 6th attack, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a politically appointed body comprised of the top eight military officials in the country, published an unprecedented letter to the...

During the “Orange Revolution” in Ukraine, a network of veterans organized by former General Volodymyr Antonets played a crucial role in preventing a violent crackdown against the nonviolent occupation of...

The pinnacle of the Indian Farmers’ Protests was a mass nonviolent blockade of the four main highways going into New Delhi, India’s capital, by hundreds of thousands of farmers, which...

One key actor organizing against democratic backsliding in Hungary is Pastor Gábor Iványi of the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship (HEF). HEF’s primary impact has been raising awareness about the state of...

While Christianity played a key role in the rise of authoritarianism in Poland, many bishops leveraged their positionality and religious rhetoric to oppose the Law and Justice party’s (PiS) more...

Following the success of the Montgomery bus boycotts, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was established to coordinate and support nonviolent direct action. The initial concept of leveraging Black churches’...

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has struggled with responding to attacks on American democracy. The internal denominational culture of the SBC conditioned the rise of Christian nationalism among its members,...

In the lead-up to President Biden’s inauguration, conflicting views of democracy within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emerged, reflecting existing challenges within the Church and its history...

Amongst the wide array of concerned Americans protesting the Trump administration’s “muslim ban” were hundreds of lawyers who gathered in airports across the nation, conducting legal research and writing motions...

After the American Medical Association (AMA) identified voting as a social determinant of health, doctors have been making voter engagement a part of whole-person health care, helping nearly 50,000 Americans...

Brazil’s doctors first began organizing large-scale resistance to the military regime over the low wages, poor working conditions, and mismanagement of the health sector by the military dictatorship. Capitalizing on...

Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement offers a model of unity in response to democratic decline; they united around a grievance (autocracy and its threat to judicial autonomy) and strategy (peaceful protests), although...

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, various groups within the legal profession organized to make it tougher for lawyers to use the legal system to overturn elections. The 65...

A key domain of Poland’s backsliding, which began in 2015, was the judiciary. In response, Polish judges have taken a multipronged approach to public activism. First, judges have drafted legal...

A key element of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) strategy was leveraging existing communities to then mobilize individuals into a collective movement. Accordingly, the SCLC developed a strong alliance...

In response to anti-democratic repression and high levels of corruption, labor unions in South Korea had organized strikes to protest government oppression in 2014, yet they had been largely ineffective...

In response to the anti-democratic passage of the Farm Bills in India, farm unions across various regions coordinated a coalition of 32 farm unions who came together in a nonviolent...

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the 2020 election poll workers were scarce, in person voting was challenging and unfeasible in some jurisdictions, and typical “get out the vote” campaigns...

On Election Day 2020, The AFL-CIO and US Chamber of Commerce, amongst other partners, released a statement calling for the respect of election results and the peaceful transfer of power....

A central part of Ukraine’s successful “Orange Revolution” was the nonviolent occupation of Independence Square in Kyiv, which drew millions of participants. Small and medium-sized businesses provided much of the...

Given their country’s history of Nazism, business leaders in Germany are particularly sensitive to the importance of speaking out against anti-democratic forces. In response to current threats, most notably the...

In response to the rapid deterioration of democracy in Venezuela, the Venezuelan business community, organizing alongside labor and church groups, organized several day-long strikes and marches. While the actions propelled...

After the murder of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations, members of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce (JACC) in Missouri chose to speak out against systemic...

The Check My Ads Institute is using their educational newsletter, Branded, and social media work to bring awareness and demand transparency around the opaque nature of advertising technology (adtech), which...

In 2020, a bipartisan group of Wisconsin business leaders, concerned over unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election, formed an association to protect voting rights and democratic institutions....

Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig and Jarvis Williams, Director for Race & Democracy reflect on some of the natural tensions facing the work of organizers at the national and state...

The civil service is simultaneously an incredibly powerful and limited pillar when it comes to movements targeting the government. As the actual implementers of government policy, they have the capacity...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Sojourners, you can access the full article without a paywall here. How Christians can defend and nurture democracy...

Artistic and cultural processes are uniquely well-suited to address our current challenges of democratic decline and rising authoritarianism because they engage us cognitively, emotionally, sensorily, and, in some cases, spiritually....

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. The new dystopian Hollywood film, Civil War, has raised the specter of devastating violent conflict...

After the January 6th Capitol attack, U.S. Catholic bishops responded in varied ways, reflecting the Church's complex political positioning. Some bishops condemned the attack as an assault on democracy, often...

As a part of Horizons’ Sensemaking Series on Race & Democracy, we invited the President of Fair Count, Dr. Jeanine Abrams McLean, to discuss their work as a non-partisan, non-profit...

On March 3, 2024, Maria J. Stephan, co-lead of the Horizons Project, discussed her work to strengthen multi-racial democracy in the US and globally to the Forum at All Souls...

Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig, and Director for Race & Democracy, Jarvis Williams, have a conversation about why the Horizons Project created this new role and portfolio of work and...

Racial justice and pro-democracy advocates share a common agenda.

As 2024 continues, all eyes are on the Presidential election. Many Americans are focused on the colossal task of ensuring our democracy can survive another crucial election without descending into violence....

Within the broad ecosystem of social change in the US, we often find a lack of alignment between racial justice and pro-democracy agendas. At best, there are siloed efforts of...

Horizons has been focusing on how various Pillars of Support, notably faith-based organizations, businesses, unions & professional associations, and veterans/military groups, have contributed to authoritarian systems and how they have...

The importance of a robust democracy in safeguarding the rights and fostering the civic participation of the religious cannot be overstated. Throughout history, it has become evident that nations that...

Building powerful movements for a just and democratic society requires tearing down the walls separating people and welcoming new people into the movement. It takes recognizing that individuals, shaped by...

As we continue the collective work towards a just, inclusive and peaceful democracy, it is important to be able to understand and talk about the shared values and ideas that...

Polarization is generally considered a necessary and healthy aspect of democratic societies. In his writing on social change work, Quaker activist and trainer George Lakey compares polarization to “a blacksmith’s forge,” one...

Unaddressed traumas pose significant challenges to building a healthy democratic society, exacerbating intra-group and inter-group conflicts and making it difficult to find common cause. Healing individual and group traumas is...

What does it mean to challenge injustices and address societal harms in ways that strengthen social bonds and encourage longer-term healing? Restorative Movement Building is at the nexus of social...

Jarvis Williams, the Director of Applied Research and Julia Roig, the Chief Network Weaver at Horizons come together in this short video interview to reflect on the “Alabama Brawl” that occurred in...

Enjoy this short interview between our Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and our new Director of Applied Research Jarvis Williams as he describes his excitement and motivation about joining the...

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban sparked widespread outrage a year ago with a speech to members of the Hungarian minority in Romania in which he said Europeans should “not want to become peoples of...

Why should veterans and military families care about authoritarianism?

Why should labor unions and professional associations care about authoritarianism?

Why should faith communities care about authoritarianism?

Why should business leaders care about authoritarianism?

The rise in authoritarianism and democratic decline around the world is well-documented, and yet the analysis of why this is happening and prioritizing what to do about it is not as clear...

The Narrative Engagement Across Difference (NEAD) Project is a unique consortium of actors – organizers, philanthropists, and academics – who have come together to gather insights into collaboration across difference in the...

As the United States celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day on 16 January, it is a moment to look back on the ways a broad-based, pro-democracy movement came together to...

King understood that no single approach would be sufficient to combat the interconnected evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism.

Since our official launch in January of 2022, the Horizons’ team has spent the bulk of our time building relationships with the many inspiring organizers, network leaders, researchers, and funders...

Recent polls have revealed that “threats to democracy” are a top priority for many of us living in the United States. On the one hand, this is good news. Acknowledging the...

The scope of the challenges of democracy in the United States are vast. For a movement to protect and expand American democracy to succeed, it is crucial that that movement...

Any movement that seeks to stand up against powerful opposition and advocate on important political issues must be prepared for a violent reaction. Eighty-six percent of major nonviolent movements around the world...

Get to know The Horizons Project team better, as our Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and our Director of Partnerships and Outreach Tabatha Pilgrim Thompson share their own approaches to sensemaking in one of the episodes...

There are two types of people in the world, those that like podcasts and those that do not. If you’ve checked out any of our VISTAS, then you know that...

The January 6th hearings have exposed a fundamental truth about authoritarianism: that it ultimately depends on the consent and acquiescence of individuals. The failure of former President Donald Trump’s efforts...

What is democracy? Forms of rights-based representative government in which: Source: Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century What is authoritarianism? Authoritarianism is a constellation of traits...

The Horizons Project is partnering with Rotary International to explore how to embed concepts and practices of forgiveness, accountability, and societal healing within Rotary clubs and their partners around the world.Forgiveness is often...

Purpose: The purpose of this document is to help US organizers, bridge-builders, and ordinary people understand the key attributes of authoritarian systems, how authoritarians wield power, and ways to counter it....

As courageous Ukrainians and Russian antiwar protesters resist Putin’s brutal war, we can do far more to support pro-democracy activists and movements.

How do we think and talk about the future? This is one of the tension points Horizons has identified within the social change ecosystem: our different feelings about, and relationships to the...

The Horizons team is made up of experienced organizers, facilitators and trainers with a deep commitment to prioritizing relationships with all our partners. We look forward to finding ways to...

As Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, it is crucial to recognize the gravity of the threats still facing U.S. democracy, even after Donald Trump left the...

As the United States celebrated Martin Luther King Day this January, Americans also confronted the reality of the recently failed attempt to pass voting rights legislation and the ongoing dysfunction of the...

President Joe Biden’s early reversals of Trump policies have included at least three that were the direct or indirect result of grassroots movements. The administration froze the extraction of oil and gas...

As the Biden-Harris administration enters its second year in office, it will grapple with formidable foreign policy challenges that affect the wellbeing of Americans and global citizens alike. Seven members...

Polarizing narratives are key tools of nonviolent mobilization and social justice activism. But today, deep-seated polarization, exacerbated by a growing faction that rejects basic democratic norms and practices, threatens the...

What are the common values that underpin US democracy? What is the “big story” we all share about how society should work and how we fit together as citizens? In...

The situation in Florida clearly represents a threat to American democracy.

This overview was created after a convening of organizations and networks who are endeavoring to map the larger “ecosystem of social change,” including social justice, bridge-building, and democracy organizations, practitioners,...

“How did we get to this point?” was how the third day of the January 6th hearings began on June 16th. Many Americans are asking the same question, with a mix of exhaustion,...

On September 14, 2022, The Horizons Project hosted a webinar to bring together movement trainers, facilitators, and organizers to discuss the current state of movement-building support in the US and...