Online Resources
- 5Calls: Contact your elected officials
- Beautiful Trouble Toolbox
- International Center on Nonviolent Conflict Resource Library, specifically these handouts and planning tools
- Protest Resilience Toolkit
- “How to Protest Safely: What to Bring, What to Do, and What to Avoid” (Wired)
20 Ways to Fight Tyranny
The following 20 “lessons” are taken from Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.
Here’s a video of John Lithgow reading the 20 lessons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXR5HLodsT8.
1. Do not obey in advance
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
2. Defend institutions
It is institutions that help us preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other, unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side.
3. Beware the one-party state
The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multi-party sysgtem and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world
The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.
5. Remember professional ethics
When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.
6. Be wary of paramilitaries
When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come.
7. Be reflective if you must be armed
If you carry a weapon in public service, may God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no.
8. Stand out
Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.
9. Be kind to our language
Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.
10. Believe in truth
To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.
11. Investigate
Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.
12. Make eye contact and small talk
This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.
13. Practice corporeal politics
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.
14. Establish a private life
Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.
15. Contribute to good causes
Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good.
16. Learn from peers in other countries
Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends abroad. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.
17. Listen for dangerous words
Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. Do not fall for it.
19. Be a patriot
Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come.
20. Be as courageous as you can
If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.
10 Habits of Good Citizens
(From The Bill of Obligations: Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard Haass)
1. Be Informed
Citizens should actively seek accurate, diverse, and reliable information to make thoughtful decisions, especially in an era of disinformation.
2. Get Involved
Participation in civic life—voting, community service, and public discourse—is essential to a functioning democracy.
3. Stay Open to Compromise
Democracy requires negotiation and finding common ground, even when it means not getting everything one wants.
4. Remain Civil
Engaging respectfully with others, including those with differing views, helps maintain a healthy public sphere.
5. Reject Violence
Violence undermines democratic processes and must be unequivocally condemned as a means of political expression.
6. Value Norms
Beyond laws, unwritten norms—like respecting election outcomes and institutional integrity—are vital to democracy.
7. Promote the Common Good
Citizens should prioritize the well-being of the community and nation over narrow self-interests.
8. Respect Government Service
Recognizing and valuing the role of public servants fosters trust and encourages effective governance.
9. Support the Teaching of Civics
Educating current and future generations about democratic principles and responsibilities is crucial.
10. Put Country First
Loyalty to democratic ideals and the nation should take precedence over partisan or personal loyalties.
198 Methods of Nonviolent Action
The following 198 methods of nonviolent action are taken from Gene Sharp’s The Politics of Nonviolent Action.
The Methods of Nonviolent Protest and Persuasion
Formal Statements
- Public Speeches
- Letters of opposition or support
- Declarations by organizations and institutions
- Signed public statements
- Declarations of indictment and intention
- Group or mass petitions
Communications with a Wider Audience
- Slogans, caricatures, and symbols
- Banners, posters, and displayed communications
- Leaflets, pamphlets, and books
- Newspapers and journals
- Records, radio, and television
- Skywriting and earthwriting
Group Representations
- Deputations
- Mock awards
- Group lobbying
- Picketing
- Mock elections
Symbolic Public Acts
- Displays of flags and symbolic colors
- Wearing of symbols
- Prayer and worship
- Delivering symbolic objects
- Protest disrobings
- Destruction of own property
- Symbolic lights
- Displays of portraits
- Paint as protest
- New signs and names
- Symbolic sounds
- Symbolic reclamations
- Rude gestures
Pressure on Individuals
- “Haunting” officials
- Taunting officials
- Fraternization
- Vigils
Drama & Music
- Humorous skits and pranks
- Performances of plays and music
- Singing
Processions
- Marches
- Parades
- Religious processions
- Pilgrimages
- Motorcades
Honoring the Dead
- Political mourning
- Mock funerals
- Demonstrative funerals
- Homage at burial places
Public Assemblies
- Assemblies of protest or support
- Protest meetings
- Camouflaged meetings of protest
- Teach-ins
Withdrawal and Renunciation
- Walk-outs
- Silence
- Renouncing honor
- Turning one’s back
The Methods of Social Noncooperation
Ostracism of Persons
- Social boycott
- Selective social boycott
- Lysistratic nonaction
- Excommunication
- Interdict
Noncooperation with Social Events, Customs & Institutions
- Suspension of social and sports activities
- Boycott of social affairs
- Student strike
- Social disobedience
- Withdrawal from social institutions
Withdrawal from the Social System
- Stay-at-home
- Total personal noncooperation
- “Flight” of workers
- Sanctuary
- Collective disappearance
- Protest emigration (hijrat)
The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: Economic Boycotts
Action by Consumers
- Consumers’ boycott
- Nonconsumption of boycotted goods
- Policy of austerity
- Rent withholding
- Refusal to rent
- National consumers’ boycott
- International consumers’ boycott
Action by Workers & Producers
- Workmen’s boycott
- Producers’ boycott
Action by Middlemen
- Suppliers’ and handlers’ boycott
Action by Owners & Management
- Traders’ boycott
- Refusal to let or sell property
- Lockout
- Refusal of industrial assistance
- Merchants’ “general strike”
Action by Holders of Financial Resources
- Withdrawal of bank deposits
- Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments
- Refusal to pay debts or interest
- Severance of funds and credit
- Revenue refusal
- Refusal of a government’s money
Action by Governments
- Domestic embargo
- Blacklisting of traders
- International sellers’ embargo
- International buyers’ embargo
- International trade embargo
The Methods of Economic Noncooperation: The Strike
Symbolic Strikes
- Protest strike
- Quickie walkout (lightning strike)
Agricultural Strikes
- Peasant strike
- Farm Workers’ strike
Strikes by Special Groups
- Refusal of impressed labor
- Prisoners’ strike
- Craft strike
- Professional strike
Ordinary Industrial Strikes
- Establishment strike
- Industry strike
- Sympathetic strike
Restricted Strikes
- Detailed strike
- Bumper strike
- Slowdown strike
- Working-to-rule strike
- Reporting “sick” (sick-in)
- Strike by resignation
- Limited strike
- Selective strike
Multi-industry Strikes
- Generalized strike
- General strike
Combination of Strikes & Economic Closures
- Hartal
- Economic shutdown
The Methods of Political Noncooperation
Rejection of Authority
- Withholding or withdrawal of allegiance
- Refusal of public support
- Literature and speeches advocating resistance
Citizens’ Noncooperation with Government
- Boycott of legislative bodies
- Boycott of elections
- Boycott of government employment and positions
- Boycott of government depts., agencies, and other bodies
- Withdrawal from government educational institutions
- Boycott of government-supported organizations
- Refusal of assistance to enforcement agents
Citizens’ Alternatives to Obedience
Removal of own signs and placemarks
Refusal to accept appointed officials
Refusal to dissolve existing institutions
Reluctant and slow compliance
Nonobedience in absence of direct supervision
Popular nonobedience
Disguised disobedience
Refusal of an assemblage or meeting to disperse
Sitdown
Noncooperation with conscription and deportation
Hiding, escape, and false identities
Civil disobedience of “illegitimate” laws
Action by Government Personnel
- Selective refusal of assistance by government aides
- Blocking of lines of command and information
- Stalling and obstruction
- General administrative noncooperation
- Judicial noncooperation
- Deliberate inefficiency and selective noncooperation by enforcement agents
- Mutiny
Domestic governmental action
- Quasi-legal evasions and delays
- Noncooperation by constituent governmental units
International governmental action
- Changes in diplomatic and other representations
- Delay and cancellation of diplomatic events
- Withholding of diplomatic recognition
- Severance of diplomatic relations
- Withdrawal from international organizations
- Refusal of membership in international bodies
- Expulsion from international organizations
The Methods of Nonviolent Intervention
Psychological Intervention
- Self-exposure to the elements
- The fast: a) Fast of moral pressure, b) Hunger strike, c) Satyagrahic fast
- Reverse trial
- Nonviolent harassment
Physical Intervention
- Sit-in
- Stand-in
- Ride-in
- Wade-in
- Mill-in
- Pray-in
- Nonviolent raids
- Nonviolent air raids
- Nonviolent invasion
- Nonviolent interjection
- Nonviolent obstruction
- Nonviolent occupation
Social Intervention
- Establishing new social patterns
- Overloading of facilities
- Stall-in
- Speak-in
- Guerrilla theater
- Alternative social institutions
- Alternative communication system
Economic Intervention
- Reverse strike
- Stay-in strike
- Nonviolent land seizure
- Defiance of blockades
- Politically motivated counterfeiting
- Preclusive purchasing
- Seizure of assets
- Dumping
- Selective patronage
- Alternative markets
- Alternative transportation systems
- Alternative economic institutions
Political Intervention
- Overloading of administrative systems
- Disclosing identities of secret agents
- Seeking imprisonment
- Civil disobedience of “neutral” laws
- Work-on without collaboration
- Dual sovereignty and parallel government