Key Elements of the Authoritarian Playbook

People get ready should be the call to action of the day. Given that, here is the Authoritarian Playbook:

Create a Crisis Narrative

• Manufacture or exaggerate threats to national security or identity

• Frame opponents as existential dangers to society

• Use fear to justify emergency powers and exceptional measures

Control the Information Ecosystem

• Undermine independent media through regulation, economic pressure, or direct attack

• Create alternative information sources loyal to the regime

• Flood media space with contradictory information to erode concept of objective truth

Weaponize Law and Institutions

• Capture courts and electoral bodies through strategic appointments

• Use seemingly legal means to target opposition ("lawfare")

• Rewrite rules while maintaining democratic appearance

Polarize and Divide Society

• Amplify existing social divisions to prevent broad coalitions

• Create clear in-groups and out-groups in rhetoric and policy

• Reward loyalty over competence or integrity

Delegitimize Opposition

• Label critics as enemies of the state or people

• Question opponents' patriotism or legitimacy

• Criminalize normal opposition activities

Blur Public and Private Power

• Forge alliances with economic elites for mutual benefit (arguing for business “efficiency” in government)

• Create systems of corruption that bind supporters to the regime (use business efficiency as a justification for contracting with business for government services, as one vector)

• Use economic pressure as political leverage

Gradual Institutional Capture

• Start with less visible institutions before tackling more protected ones (faith-based initiatives)

• Proceed incrementally to avoid triggering broad resistance

• Establish precedents that enable further power consolidation

Selective Enforcement

• Apply laws inconsistently to punish enemies and reward allies

• Create chilling effects through high-profile examples (and through off-shoring detainers to jurisdictions outside of the U.S.)

• Maintain plausible deniability about political motivations (immigrant invasion; trumped up terrorist threats)

Undermine Civil Society

• Co-optation of influential organizations

  • Offering leadership positions, resources, or status to co-opt independent organizations

  • Creating government-organized nonprofits (including religious one) that mimic civil society groups but serve regime interests

  • Absorbing independent organizations into government apparatus for easier surveillance

• Legal and bureaucratic constraints

  • Implementing restrictive registration laws and burdensome reporting requirements

  • Creating vague legal frameworks that can selectively target critical organizations

  • Using "foreign agent" laws to stigmatize organizations receiving international support

• Financial strangulation

  • Cutting off domestic funding sources for independent organizations

  • Blocking international funding through banking restrictions or legal prohibitions

  • Imposing excessive taxes or fines on targeted organizations

• Surveillance and infiltration

  • Planting informants and collaborators within civil society organizations

  • Monitoring communications, meetings, and activities of activists

  • Using digital surveillance tools to track organizing efforts

• Targeted repression

  • Arresting, detaining, or harassing key organization leaders

  • Using tax audits, fire inspections, or other administrative measures as punishment

  • Intimidating staff members and their families to induce self-censorship

• Narrative control and delegitimization

  • Labeling civil society organizations as "foreign agents" or "extremists"

  • Creating propaganda to discredit civil society leaders and their work

  • Portraying activists as threats to national security or cultural values

• Divide-and-conquer tactics

  • Creating divisions between different civil society groups

  • Selectively rewarding compliant groups while punishing others

  • Pitting different segments of society against each other

• Restricting freedom of assembly

  • Requiring permits for public gatherings that are selectively denied

  • Using excessive force to disrupt peaceful protests

  • Maintaining laws allowing for arbitrary dispersion of gatherings

• Controlling information flow

  • Restricting internet access during critical periods

  • Blocking or shutting down communication platforms used by activists

  • Creating information bubbles to isolate civil society from international support

• Weaponizing crises

  • Using emergencies (health, security, economic) to justify extraordinary restrictions

  • Never fully lifting emergency powers after crises subside

  • Exploiting genuine concerns to implement disproportionate controls

Exploit Democratic Processes

• Use democratic procedures and language while hollowing out substance

• Hold elections with predetermined outcomes

• Implement majoritarian policies that erode minority protections

Countering the Authoritarian Playbook: Action Plan for Democratic Resilience

Here's a strategic framework for what we can do to protect and strengthen democratic institutions and civil society:

Strengthen Democratic Infrastructure

• Fortify electoral systems with transparent processes, paper backups, and independent oversight

• Invest in civic education that teaches critical thinking and democratic values across generations

• Support independent judiciary reforms that prevent partisan capture of courts

• Advocate for election financing reforms to reduce the influence of concentrated wealth on politics

Build Resilient Information Ecosystems

• Support independent journalism through subscriptions, donations, and community funding models

• Develop media literacy programs to help citizens distinguish credible information from propaganda

• Create alternative funding models for local news that aren't vulnerable to economic pressure

• Establish fact-checking networks with transparent methodologies and broad institutional support

Strengthen Civil Society Organizations

• Diversify funding sources to avoid dependency on any single donor or government support

• Create mutual aid networks between organizations for resource-sharing and protection

• Develop decentralized organizational structures that can survive if leadership is targeted

• Build international solidarity networks to provide support when domestic resources are threatened

Foster Social Cohesion

• Create dialogue spaces across political and social divides to humanize "the other"

• Highlight shared values and concerns that transcend partisan divisions

• Develop early warning systems to identify polarizing tactics and coordinated disinformation

• Practice inclusive politics that addresses legitimate grievances that authoritarians exploit

Protect Institutional Independence

• Create accountability mechanisms for institutional capture by the people through transparent oversight

• Document and challenge norm violations before they become normalized

• Support whistleblower protections for those who expose abuses of power

• Develop cross-partisan coalitions focused on protecting democratic processes over policy outcomes

Economic Democratization

• Support economic models that distribute power more widely (worker ownership, cooperatives)

• Strengthen antitrust enforcement to prevent economic concentration that enables political capture

• Create community wealth-building initiatives that reduce economic dependency on authoritarians

• Develop economic resilience at local levels to withstand pressure tactics, especially through mutual aid.

Tactical Innovation

• Use creative resistance approaches that are harder to repress than traditional protests, like kitchen table activism, micro strikes, specifically targeted boycotts

• Employ strategic nonviolence techniques with proven effectiveness against authoritarian tactics, and deploy them not just in protest, but celebration

• Leverage technology for secure communication and coordination while avoiding surveillance

• Document abuses systematically to create accountability through domestic and international channels, including documentation of violence against women, lgbtq people, and children in authoritarian cults and networks

Long-term Cultural Work

• Cultivate democratic culture through arts, media, and community practices

• Tell compelling stories about democratic values that resonate emotionally, not just intellectually

• Build intergenerational movements that pass on democratic knowledge and tactics

• Reclaim patriotic symbols and narratives from authoritarian misappropriation

Personal Practices

• Maintain hope and perspective - authoritarian systems have inherent weaknesses and contradictions; be poised to act on opportunity

• Practice democratic values in personal relationships and organizations

• Build community resilience through local connections and mutual support networks

• Avoid burnout by recognizing this is a marathon, not a sprint

The authoritarian playbook is powerful but not invincible. Throughout history, democratic movements have prevailed against seemingly insurmountable odds by combining strategic thinking, broad-based organizing, and moral clarity. The key is to start where you are, at the local level, build coalitions across differences, and remain committed to the long-term project of democratic renewal.