Small Businesses Fuel the Fight for Freedom in Ukraine 

Time Period: 1999 - 2005Location: UkraineMain Actors: Small- and medium-sized Ukrainian businesses; Anatoliy Kinakh and the League of Industrialists and EntrepreneursTactics - Material support - Institutional action  - Generalized strikes ...

German Businesses Defend Democracy and Fight Extremism

Time Period: 2017-PresentLocation: GermanyMain Actors: WVIB, VDMA, Welcome Saxony, Business LeadersTactics - Civic Engagement - Media Outreach - Signed Letters of Support - Social Media Campaign Given their country’s history...

Comparative Caselets: The Civil Service as a Pillar of Support

Time Period: 1920-2023Location: USA, Canada, Germany, Guinea-Bissau, FijiMain Actors: Current and former Department of Justice employees; American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE); National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU); Transportation Safety Administration...

THE PILLARS PROJECT: Labor Unions

What is the connection between unions and democracy? Democratic backsliding in the United States is a particular threat to labor unions. The research is clear: democracy is good for labor. Democracies...

THE PILLARS PROJECT: The Faith Community

What is the connection between faith communities and democracy? A flourishing democracy is one of the strongest protections for the free exercise of religion. In turn, faith communities have a...

Exploring Narrative Practices for Broad-based Movements in Contexts of Democratic Decline

*This piece was originally published on March 1, 2023 on OpenGlobalRights by Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and James Savage. Versión en Español The rise in authoritarianism and democratic decline around the...

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Multiple Lanes to Multiracial Democracy

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Waging Nonviolence. King understood that no single approach would be sufficient to combat the interconnected evils...

The Pillars of Support Project

Click here for the Pillars of Support Project Page The complexity of the problem has hampered efforts to coordinate action against authoritarianism. Yet such coordination is crucial. Research shows that the most...

Building A United Front

*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. The scope of the challenges of democracy in the United States are vast. For a movement to protect...

Violence and the Backfire Effect

*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. Any movement that seeks to stand up against powerful opposition and advocate on important political issues must be...