From Dictatorship to Democracy Part II: Gene Sharp on Grand Strategy

Every day, Trump is escalating his drive for complete control, from the occupation of DC to his threats on Baltimore and Chicago

With an authoritarian in the White House, what can we do to save our country?

Many courageous Americans are standing up to the attempted authoritarian takeover. Hundreds, even thousands, of local and national groups are organizing frequent protests. Organizations like Indivisible, Public Citizen, and Protect Democracy are doing amazing work in understanding the nature of the authoritarian power-grab, and action we can take to challenge it. They are already mobilizing millions of people to oppose Trump, such as the No Kings Day rally in which over five million people participated across the country – one of the largest protests in US history - with more being planned. I encourage you to get involved with and support at least one of these groups, if you’re not already

Our growing pro-democracy movement could be strengthened by drawing on the work of a man who dedicated his life to bringing down authoritarians and lifting up democracy – Gene Sharp. His pioneering book, From Dictatorship to Democracy, has been used successfully by democracy movements around the world to get rid of tyrants.

This is Part Two of a two-part series on what we can do based on Gene Sharp’s guidance. You can read Part One of the series here. I offer this summary of Sharp’s ideas as a contribution to the discussions among leaders of our pro-democracy movement and concerned citizens about how our actions can be most effective.

Here’s the key insight from Sharp: The best way to bring down an authoritarian regime is through widespread nonviolent noncooperation. This is most effectively done through a plan called a Grand Strategy - a series of strategic actions that build power to achieve the main desired objective.

Let’s unpack this and see how it applies to our situation now. Our situation is different from countries already run by full dictatorships, since the US is a democratic country now backsliding rapidly into authoritarianism. But we are well down the path toward dictatorship already, and much of Sharp’s advice is applicable.

Commit to developing a Grand Strategy that resistance forces can unite behind.

We need clarity on an overarching Grand Strategy, a sophisticated approach to deal with our current situation. A Grand Strategy coordinates and directs the use of all resources, focusing primary attention on the main objective. A Grand Strategy is a blueprint for the movement, a comprehensive plan of action that strengthens the people, weakens and removes the authoritarian, and builds a durable democracy.

We will be more effective with a unified plan. A thoughtful and flexible strategic plan for the national pro-democracy movement would enable us to achieve our main objective. The end result, and the strategic plan to achieve that result, together constitute a Grand Strategy.

Some movement leaders have done serious strategic thinking, notably Indivisible with its “Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink" and Protect Democracy with its “Defeating the Authoritarian Playbook: Our Strategy” . Both of these are excellent guides to citizen action. But I believe our movement would be stronger if we also learn from Gene Sharp’s advice based on a lifetime focused on what enables pro-democracy movements to succeed. We can build on these excellent resources to shape the Grand Strategy that Sharp recommends. If you know of an existing Grand Strategy, please tell me about it!

So far, our movement has focused heavily on tactics such as mass mobilizations like No Kings Day. These actions are vital for building power, for demonstrating widespread opposition to Trump, and for energizing people to resist, but alone will not stop him.

Focusing on a Grand Strategy will enable us to chart a course to use available resources to move toward liberty and democracy. We can create a comprehensive plan to strengthen the people, weaken the dictatorship, and build a durable democracy

A plan identifies which pressures to bring to bear, on which pillars of the authoritarian’s support. A plan includes the conditions and timing for the launch of resistance campaigns. A plan sets a framework for the selection of strategies and allocation of tasks and resources to groups.

Moreover, many people feel powerless and frightened. A plan can build confidence for political defiance, starting with simple acts like wearing certain clothing and building up to noncooperation.

PROCESS for shaping a Grand Strategy

A Grand Strategy must have support among resistance leaders. This requires getting key players together at the table. Have them discuss, then agree on, a Grand Strategy. Work from a draft, if possible

One of the biggest obstacles to planning is the feeling of being overwhelmed. People often feel the need to react to the dictators’ frequent reprehensible actions, which puts pro-democracy activists on the defensive, and allows the authoritarian to set the agenda. The way to deal with this is to decide our main objective, where we want to begin, where we want to concentrate our efforts, and how we will use limited resources. This enables the democratic resistance to seize the initiative.

As Gene Sharp says, failure to plan intelligently can contribute to disaster. Without a plan, strength is dissipated, actions are ineffective, energy is wasted on minor issues, advantages are not utilized, sacrifices are for nothing, and the movement is likely to fail.

Understanding Components of a Grand Strategy

Below, I dive into what these components of a Grand Strategy mean and how to go about formulating them.

Get clarity on our main objective.
Conduct a careful analysis of our current situation.
Select a series of individual campaign strategies designed to achieve the chosen main objective.
Once formulated, make the Grand Strategy widely known.

Note on values

Commit to nonviolent action. Political defiance leaders must understand the nature and strategic principles of nonviolence. Learn more about the moral and practical imperative of nonviolence here.

Exress democratic norms in all we do. To paraphrase Gandhi, “There is no way to democracy, democracy is the way.” A significant value of a Grand Strategy is the engagement and empowerment of citizens along the way. Deep listening to the people will enrich the plans of pro-democracy leaders, and build confidence as people feel heard and impactful.

Build empowerment among the people. The struggle for democracy must change the distribution of power. The knowledge, skill, and confidence gained by the people through struggle make the establishment of a durable democracy more likely.

Step 1: Get clarity on our main objective.

The Grand Strategy is a plan that leads to our end game, the major result of all our efforts. We need to be clear - what major result do we want? What is our main objective? This result needs to be agreed upon before the rest of the plan is developed.

During the first Trump presidency, the “resistance” focused on a more narrow objective, like “Get Trump out of the presidency.” But Sharp advises against the main objective being to remove the tyrant, because another one would likely be right behind him. And do we really want to go back to the way things were before Trump?

A robust grand strategy must address the underlying issues that led to the rise of an authoritarian in the first place. Here are two options for a main objective.

OPTION ONE MAIN OBJECTIVE: A possible major result that Sharp suggests is to “establish a free society with a democratic system of government that makes the rise of a dictator impossible.”

Elements of this option could include:

Enforce the Constitution (which limits presidential power, gives a lot of power to Congress, and provides checks and balances on power).
Restore judicial independence.
Restore accuracy and civility to Media.

OPTION TWO MAIN OBJECTIVE: A different major result could address economic as well as political issues. Economic issues include extreme wealth inequality, the way things are rigged for the very wealthy to win, and the big corporations having too much power. We might want to include economics in our main objective because in the US we have the trappings of a democratic system of government, but in practice the ultra-wealthy have extraordinary political power. They use their money to influence who is elected, and to pressure government officials to get the policies they want (like more tax breaks for the rich).

So one question is whether we address that economic disparity in articulating the major result. A way to express this major result might be “replace oligarchy with real democracy, both politically and economically.”

The case for including economics in the main objective is that we need to address the concentrated wealth that has given the ultra-wealthy vast political power. Otherwise, even if we win a political victory and dump Trump, the ultra-rich will still have outsized power and influence. The concentration of economic power will always constitute a threat to real democracy.

Elements of this option could include:

Broaden Economic Prosperity.
Reign in corporate power, strengthen unions.
Ensure our economic activity respects our natural resources.

We need to pick one main objective that becomes the focus of the entire grand strategy (comprehensive plan).

Step 2: Conduct a careful analysis of our current situation.

An analysis of the current situation will shape the Grand Strategy. Assess the current situation, considering historical, physical, political, governmental, military, economic, psychological, and international factors. Conduct a SWOT analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Consider the following:

What are the main obstacles to freedom?
What are the main strengths of the authoritarian?
What are the main weaknesses of the authoritarian?
Which sources of power for the authoritarian are vulnerable?
What are the strengths of the democratic forces?
What are the weaknesses of the democratic forces, and how can they be corrected?

Some of this analysis is already done by Indivisible and Protect Democracy. We can go broader and deeper. A careful analysis will reveal weak points of the authoritarian regime that we can press on.

A careful analysis is vital for informing the entire comprehensive plan.

Step 3: Select a series of individual campaigns designed to achieve the chosen main objective.

Only after our main objective is decided can the individual campaign strategies be fully developed. They are designed to achieve the Grand Strategy’s main objective. A series of individual campaigns on specific limited issues that are achievable will build toward reaching the main objective

In designing strategies, be mindful of the physical, historical, governmental, military, social, political, psychological, and economic factors described above.

Consider the following:

How might the Grand Strategy best begin?
How can the people’s noncompliance and defiance increase over time?
Which independent institutions could be zones of democracy even with the authoritarian in power? (Think colleges and law firms, for example.) These centers of power are vital as bases for challenging the authoritarian regime (that’s why he’s going after them).
Which institutions need to be created?
How can organizational strength in the resistance be developed? How can participants be trained? How can we maintain nonviolent discipline?
What resources are required?
What symbolism is most effective at mobilizing people?
How can the authoritarian’s sources of power be weakened?
How loyal is the military to the authoritarian? How many are loyal the Constitution and the people first? Make it a high priority to develop a special strategy to communicate with the military and police. Some of the military and police may offer support in the form of safe passage, information, and medical supplies. They can also practice “disguised disobedience” like carrying out orders for repression ineffectively, failing to locate wanted persons, warning resisters of impending repression or deportations, and failing to report information to their superiors.
Develop strategies also for civil servants. They can lose files and instructions.
What is the leadership structure and communications system of the resistance? How are decisions made?
What kind of international assistance is desirable, if any? How can it be mobilized? Consider non-governmental organizations including labor unions and religious groups.

Strategies will be aimed to strike decisive blows to the authoritarian regime. Start with simple actions people can take, and build up to bigger actions. Individuals who are ready can undertake certain actions like a hunger strike or student class boycott or sit-in at an important office.

Street demonstrations can be dramatic. Other actions can include people staying home (striking), or massive noncooperation by civil servants.

It is essential that people understand the idea of noncooperation. Tell stories that popularize the idea of noncooperation. Once people understand what it is and why it’s important, they will think of creative ways to withhold cooperation. If enough people withhold cooperation, the authoritarian regime will weaken and collapse.

Step 4: Once formulated, make the Grand Strategy widely known

People will be more willing to participate if they understand the bigger picture.

The authoritarian will find out about the plan anyway so there’s nothing gained by secrecy.

Moreover, seeing the organized resistance may encourage dissension and defection among the authoritarian’s camp.

Once formulated, stick to the Grand Strategic plan. Don’t be distracted by minor moves of the authoritarian. Stay focused on the main objective, while being open to adjustments in tactics as the situation evolves.

Conclusion

This is my summary of guidance from the master of nonviolent resistance, Gene Sharp, on how we can proceed in the face of an authoritarian in the White House. We have many skilled strategists in our movement, such as the leaders of Indivisible and Protect Democracy, as well as Heather Booth, Mike Lux, and Bob Creamer and others who have offered proposals on strategy. My hope is that the wisdom of Gene Sharp - based on deep knowledge of pro-democracy movements worldwide - can help guide us in this struggle. I look forward to engaging in this vital conversation. Watch this space for more discussion of key organizations and actions we can take to meet this moment. As I learn more, I will share it with you here.