From Dictatorship to Democracy: Lessons from Gene Sharp

If you had any doubt that Trump aims to seize complete control of the country, his massive funding for a police state makes his intentions clear. Given that we have an authoritarian in the White House, what can we do to save our country?

Let’s turn for guidance to a man who dedicated his life to bringing down authoritarians and building up democracies – Gene Sharp. His pioneering book, From Dictatorship to Democracy, has been used successfully by democracy movements around the world (first published in 1993, the most recent edition is 2012 by Free Press).

The story behind the book, From Dictatorship to Democracy

In 1993, a pro-democracy leader in Burma asked scholar Gene Sharp for advice on overcoming a repressive regime. Gene wrote an essay intended for Burmese democracy activists. It was turned into a booklet and circulated surreptitiously inside Burma and elsewhere. The regime in Burma understood its power and banned its possession: as late as 2005, being caught with a copy would get you sentenced to seven years in prison.

This short book offers a blueprint for nonviolent resistance to authoritarians. Pro-democracy activists around the world started sharing the book, translating it and distributing it on their own. It has been translated into 28 languages and used by opposition movements from Burma to Serbia (where it helped bring down the Milosevic regime nonviolently) and beyond.

Who is Gene Sharp?

I knew Gene Sharp from my work in the peace movement. He was smart and kind, absolutely devoted to democracy worldwide. He held research appointments at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs, and founded Harvard's Program on Nonviolent Sanctions in Conflict and Defense. He also founded the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of nonviolent action.

Gene Sharp kept improving the booklet. He wrote the last version in 2008 when he was 80 years old.

This book is relevant to our present situation in the US, and one I am turning back to now for its wisdom, so I am writing a two-part essay to share some of its highlights with you. I invite you to draw from these highlights what you find useful to our current circumstances.

Part One describes some key advice on dealing with authoritarians, which includes calling for a Grand Strategy to guide pro-democracy activists (see below).

Part Two offers a proposal for what a Grand Strategy might look like in the United States (coming soon).

A note on language: while Gene Sharp referred to dictators, I am applying his advice to us in the US today. We don’t have a dictator – yet – but we do have an authoritarian well on his way to becoming a dictator.

Part One: Principles for dealing with authoritarians

The best way to bring down an authoritarian regime is through widespread nonviolent noncooperation. This is most effectively done through a Grand Strategy, a phased series of campaigns that build power through strategic actions to achieve an ultimate objective.

To succeed, a grand coalition of all pro-democracy and resistance forces must come together and agree on a common plan known as the Grand Strategy.

Some principles to guide the work are below.

Face dictatorships realistically

• People must overcome fear, and the habit of obedience. We need to build confidence to face concentrated power and money.
• The pro-democracy movement must be committed to a nonviolent resistance strategy, similar to the one that the civil rights movement in the United States engaged in. Violence doesn’t work: it leaves the authoritarian in power, and scares away potential supporters.
• Requirements of effective action include:
  • Increase determination, confidence, and resistance of the people.
  • Strengthen independent groups and institutions.
  • Create powerful resistance.
  • Develop a Grand Strategic Plan for liberation and democracy.

Beware the dangers of negotiation

• Often the response to an authoritarian is passive submission or compromise. Under the guise of “making peace,” many groups engage in so-called negotiations which is actually capitulation. We see this now in the US with universities (looking at you, Columbia), law firms, and the media (see CBS payment of $16 million or more to Trump because he didn’t like their editing of an interview with Kamala Harris).
• When fundamental issues are at stake, no compromise will work. What’s needed is a shift in power in favor of the pro-democracy movement.
• Authoritarians use “negotiations” as a trap to get democrats to surrender.
• The only effective negotiations are at the end of a struggle when the nonviolent movement has built power and the authoritarian’s power is destroyed. Otherwise “peace” is submission to the authoritarian.

How to prevent and destroy dictatorships

• The most powerful way to challenge authoritarians is through political defiance and nonviolent struggle using noncooperation with the regime as a principal tool.
• Dictatorships collapse when confronted by defiant, mobilized people. Their weaknesses can be aggravated and their powers disintegrated. This requires identifying, and undermining, their sources of power.

Identify where their power comes from, and that helps identify weaknesses of the authoritarian.

Authoritarians require the assistance of people they rule, and compliance. Their power relies on submission. When you refuse to submit, you weaken his power.

Cooperators empower the dictator with their skill and knowledge. Resisters weaken him by withholding skill and knowledge, and by noncompliance.

All dictatorships have weaknesses. Target them and amplify them. Here are some of their points of vulnerability:

1. Authoritarians rely on the cooperation of people. An authoritarian can’t do anything without people carrying out his orders, and the general population acquiescing to them.
2. Subordinates may not report accurate information, accidentally or on purpose. No one wants to bring bad news to the big guy, so they may distort or totally make up information to please him, leading to a lack of connection to reality. Some close to him may see the damage he’s causing, and deliberately misinform him to limit damage.
3. Ideology may erode. Myths and symbols propping up the regime are unstable. In the US, Trump and other Republicans have spread lies about Democrats abusing children, leading one man from the south to drive to a pizza parlor in DC with a shotgun, only to discover it was all lies.
4. Adherence to ideology influences the view of reality. This leads to inattention to actual conditions, so they don’t know or see what’s really happening.
5. The bureaucracy deteriorates in efficiency; there are excessive controls and regulations. This happened already where DOGE agents demanded the right to approve all funds being sent overseas, and all operations ground to a crawl.
6. Internal conflicts. Internal fights. We’re seeing a big one with Elon Musk, formerly his biggest supporter, battling Trump publicly.
7. Intellectuals and students are restless. Many people in universities are uncomfortable or outright hostile to authoritarians, and can be centers of resistance. That’s one reason Trump is pushing hard to get universities to capitulate to him and allow him influence on appointments and curriculum.
8. The public becomes increasingly skeptical and hostile. For example, after stirring up conspiracies around Epstein, Trump was named by his own Attorney General Pam Bondi as being named in the Epstein files, and is now trying to deflect attention elsewhere.
9. There is an unstable team of leadership. With a lack of checks and balances, orders can change based on the whim of the authoritarian. This is what’s happening with Trump changing his position frequently on tariffs, which is destabilizing international trade.
10. Uncompliant police or military who refuse to follow the dictator’s orders. In the US, the military swears allegiance to the Constitution, not to the president. Those in the military who see his unconstitutional actions may decide to not follow his orders.
11. Concentration of power by the few leads to mistakes of judgement. Decisions made with the input of many views can lead to more solid decisions. With an authoritarian dictating what’s to be done, key information is missing and bad decisions are inevitable.

We can examine each of these points of vulnerability as they apply to Trump, showing us where to apply pressure.

Factors that influence the power of the pro-democracy movement

• Desire of people to limit the power of the authoritarian.
• Strength of independent organizations.
• Ability to withhold consent.

Groups have much more impact than individuals. It is relatively easy for an authoritarian to discredit or silence one individual, however heroic. But with groups, when one leader steps aside, another steps forward. So it’s important to build independent groups. Additionally, it’s important for individuals to join one or more groups. There is strength in numbers.

Ways of exercising power

Reducing fear is key to undermining authoritarians. People need to develop fearlessness and nonviolent discipline.

So far most resistance has been expressed through mass demonstrations, boycotts of Tesla and Target, and lawsuits, which have been impressive, but alone will not bring down an authoritarian. There are many other forms of resistance. Gene Sharp offers 198 methods of nonviolent action to undermine authoritarians. A few examples of political defiance include:

• Protests
• Strikes
• Boycotts
• Stalling, sick-outs
• Hunger strikes.

The need for strategic planning - a Grand Strategy

A Grand Strategy is a framework for coordinating and directing the movement. It includes a phased series of campaigns to strengthen the people and weaken the authoritarian. A Grand Strategy increases the likelihood that all available resources are deployed effectively. Failure to create a strategic plan can contribute to disaster.

The main goal should not be to just topple the authoritarian, but to emplace a democratic system (or else there’s a great risk of another tyrant taking over).

Often pro-democracy activists feel overwhelmed by all that needs to be done, and think they lack time to plan. Consequently, they get locked in to reacting to the authoritarian, and they are always on defense. We will not win by being reactive and playing defense.

Better: Decide our overall goal, where to begin, determine the regime’s most obvious vulnerabilities, where to concentrate efforts, and how we’ll use limited resources. Seize the initiative for democratic resistance.

Otherwise, our strength is dissipated, actions are ineffective, energy is wasted on minor issues, advantages are not utilized, sacrifices are for nothing - and we are likely to fail.

This concludes Part One of highlights From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp. I encourage you to read the book if you can, available for purchase here or through a library. It’s not banned (yet) in the US, but that could happen, so get it while you can. You might want to find a buddy or two to read the book with you in your own book club.

Watch for Part Two, my next essay on how we might create a Grand Strategy for the US.

Eleanor LeCain is a member of the FMM Advisory Board.  See more of her work at her substack.