Democracy vs Tyranny
HOME / LEARN MORE / DEMOCRACY VS. TYRANNY
Democracy requires the consent of the governed.
This fundamental principle is threatened by the authoritarian faction we call Team Coup.
The resources below help us understand Team Coup and the tactics this faction employs, and the tactics Team YOU can use to overcome this threat and build a stronger, democratic America.
Defending against Authoritarianism
Other countries have been here before, in their own ways. We can learn the lessons of the past to know what work is needed to keep it from repeating.
The Past is Still Present: How history helps us spot and respond to signs of authoritarianism
Author and historian Timothy Snyder’s study of authoritarian governments reveals twenty concrete ways to defend democracy. Examining previous battles between democracies and despots, Snyder maps out the well-worn paths that tyrannical leaders inevitably pursue across nations and decades. On Tyranny proves that despotism is not inevitable, and charts strategies we can use to resist tyranny and preserve democracy here and now.
Video Lectures: On Tyranny. Each of these is 10 minutes or less to watch.
Lessons: List of the 20 Lessons
More by Timothy Snyder:
Watch the States: Authoritarian creep starts in our own state legislatures.
David Pepper’s latest book, Laboratories of Autocracy, expertly describes the assault on our democracy from within.
For the past two decades, extremist right-wing politicians have imposed minority rule in multiple states by undermining democracy in statehouses across the United States. They intend to make themselves unaccountable to voters so they can lock in power for the long term.
Pepper is the former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party and a former county official. His book exposes the tactics being used in these authoritarian takeovers and presents strategies to overcome them.
Book: Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines
More by David Pepper:
All Populism Is Not Created Equal
Our current political and cultural divisions are not between red and blue or different political parties. Today’s fundamental clash is between two forms of populism: a democratic kind, and an authoritarian kind.
“Populism” for the Few vs. Populism for You.
Over the past twenty years, the economic consequences of increasing globalization and free trade have produced world-wide backlash. Nations have turned away from traditional leaders and towards populists on the left and right. A stark choice between these two types of populism has now arisen.
Yet, as writer and commentator Thom Hartmann explains, this is a false choice, because authoritarian “populism” pays only lip service to popular will in order to serve an elite minority. His work has guided us as we developed the Team Coup vs. Team YOU dichotomy.
