Authoritarian Tendencies: Recognizing Them when they Manifest

In the face of growing concerns about authoritarianism, several organizations have stepped up to provide resources and tools for combating this undemocratic system. One such initiative is the Horizons Project, which offers a wealth of guides, videos, and other resources to help combat authoritarianism.

Authoritarianism is a system where power is concentrated in a small group of people who are not constitutionally accountable to the people they represent. This system often engages in undemocratic practices such as corruption, spreading lies and conspiracy theories, using fear and violence, and misusing state power.

To help combat these practices, the Horizons Project provides a variety of resources. These include 'Hold the Line: A Guide to Defending Democracy', 'Confronting Authoritarianism: A Community-Led Approach to Revitalizing Democracy', and 'Democracy in a Box'. These guides offer practical tips and strategies for individuals and communities to resist authoritarianism.

The Horizons Project has also partnered with Beyond Conflict to create a guide for journalists and the media called 'The Authoritarian Playbook: How Reporters can Contextualize and Cover Authoritarian Threats as Distinct from Politics-as-Usual'. This guide provides a framework for journalists to discern, contextualize, and cover the tactics used by aspiring authoritarians.

In addition, the Horizons Project and Beyond Conflict have created a video titled 'The Brain on Authoritarianism'. This video aims to support broad-based 'united front' organizing against the rising authoritarian threat in the US and globally. It focuses on understanding the brain's response to fear, toxic othering, and threats to social identity.

To push back against authoritarianism, large, diverse, cross-partisan and cross-ideological pro-democracy fronts or movements should be formed with a shared vision, strategy, and clear, concrete demands. These movements should be trained in nonviolent discipline and violence de-escalation, engage in a variety of nonviolent tactics, and involve key organizational pillars like religious institutions, business groups, unions, professional associations, bureaucracies, media institutions, and security forces.

The Horizons Project also provides a media guide called 'The Authoritarian Playbook: A Media Guide'. This resource offers insights into the top 10 elements of the authoritarian playbook, including dividing and ruling, spreading lies and conspiracies, destroying checks and balances, demonizing opponents and independent media, undermining civil and political rights, blaming minorities, immigrants, and 'outsiders', rewarding loyalists and punishing defectors, encouraging or condoning violence, organizing mass rallies, and making people feel powerless.

The Horizons Project has created a document to help people understand authoritarian systems, their traits, and ways to counter them. Resources include articles and guides such as 'Democracy Undone: The Authoritarian's Playbook', 'The Future of Nonviolent Resistance', 'Civil Resistance Tactics in the 21 Century', and more.

A roundup of resources related to the 2024 US election outcome, options for moving forward, working with others, and taking strategic action has been provided. This list includes resources such as 'The Anti-Autocracy Handbook: A Scholars' Guide to Navigating Democratic Backsliding', 'What 'The Handmaid's Tale' Teaches about Resisting Authoritarianism', and 'Exploring Narrative Practices for Broad-based Movements in Contexts of Democratic Decline'.

It's important to note that authoritarianism is not a single individual or a few individuals, a partisan policy position, or a 'red', 'blue', 'left', or 'right' phenomenon. It's a system that rejects democratic rules, denies the legitimacy of opponents, tolerates or encourages political violence, curtailing civil liberties, and breaking down social cohesion.

Organizations and persons mentioned to prevent authoritarianism include democratic civil society groups, the Europa-Union Deutschland (EUD) as a large citizen initiative, networks like the 'Post-Ost-Bewegung' that fight anti-Slavism, civil society actors engaged in democracy work against right-wing extremism and antifeminism, and initiatives such as Bread for the World (Brot für die Welt) and the Protestant Development Service (Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung) responding to authoritarianism in Central America.

In conclusion, the Horizons Project offers a comprehensive suite of resources for those seeking to understand and combat authoritarianism. From guides and videos to podcasts and books, these resources provide a wealth of information and strategies for individuals and communities to push back against this undemocratic system. By working together, we can help ensure that democracy continues to thrive.