Excerpt from From Dictatorship to
Democracy by Gene Sharp
10
Groundwork for Durable Democracy
THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE DICTATORSHIP is of course a cause for major
celebration. People who have suffered for so long and struggled at great price
merit a time of joy, relaxation, and recognition. They should feel proud of
themselves and of all who struggled with them to win political freedom. Not all
will have lived to see this day. The living and the dead will be remembered as
heroes who helped to shape the history of freedom in their country.
Unfortunately, this is not a time for a reduction in vigilance. Even in
the event of a successful disintegration of the dictatorship by political
defiance, careful precautions must be taken to prevent the rise of a new
oppressive regime out of the confusion following the collapse of the old one.
The leaders of the pro-democracy forces should have prepared in advance for an
orderly transition to a democracy. The dictatorial structures will need to be
dismantled. The constitutional and legal bases and standards of behavior of a
durable democracy will need to be built.
No one should believe that with the downfall of the dictatorship an
ideal society will immediately appear. The disintegration of the dictatorship
simply provides the beginning point, under conditions of enhanced freedom, for
long-term efforts to improve the society and meet human needs more adequately.
Serious political, economic, and social problems will continue for years,
requiring the cooperation of many people and groups in seeking their
resolution. The new political system should provide the opportunities for
people with varying outlooks and favored measures to continue constructive work
and policy development to deal with problems in the future.
Threats of a new dictatorship
Aristotle warned long ago that “… tyranny can also change into tyranny…”14
There is ample historical evidence from France (the Jacobins and Napoleon),
Russia (the Bolsheviks), Iran (the Ayatollah), Burma (SLORC), and elsewhere
that the collapse of an oppressive regime will be seen by some persons and
groups as merely the opportunity for them to step in as the new masters. Their
motives may vary, but the results are often approximately the same. The new
dictatorship may even be more cruel and total in its control than the old one.
Even before the collapse of the dictatorship, members of the old regime
may attempt to cut short the defiance struggle for democracy by staging a coup
d’état designed to preempt victory by the popular resistance. It may claim to
oust the dictatorship, but in fact seek only to impose a new refurbished model
of the old one.
Blocking coups
There are ways in which coups against newly liberated societies can be
defeated. Advance knowledge of that defense capacity may at times be sufficient
to deter the attempt. Preparation can produce prevention.
Immediately after a coup is started, the putschists require legitimacy,
that is, acceptance of their moral and political right to rule. The first basic
principle of anti-coup defense is therefore to deny legitimacy to the
putschists.
The putschists also require that the civilian leaders and population be
supportive, confused, or just passive. The putschists require the cooperation
of specialists and advisors, bureaucrats and civil servants, administrators and
judges in order to consolidate their control over the affected society. The
putschists also require that the multitude of people who operate the political
system, the society’s institutions, the economy, the police, and the military
forces will passively submit and carry out their usual functions as modified by
the putschists’ orders and policies.
The second basic principle of anti-coup defense is to resist the
putschists with noncooperation and defiance. The needed cooperation and
assistance must be denied. Essentially the same means of struggle that was used
against the dictatorship can be used against the new threat, but applied
immediately. If both legitimacy and cooperation are denied, the coup may die of
political starvation and the chance to build a democratic society may be
restored.
Constitution drafting
The new democratic system will require a constitution that establishes
the desired framework of the democratic government. The constitution should set
the purposes of government, limits on governmental powers, the means and timing
of elections by which governmental officials and legislators will be chosen,
the inherent rights of the people, and the relation of the national government
to other lower levels of government.
Within the central government, if it is to remain democratic, a clear
division of authority should be established among the legislative, executive,
and judicial branches of government. Strong restrictions should be included on
activities of the police, intelligence services, and military forces to prohibit
any legal political interference.
In the interests of preserving the democratic system and impeding
dictatorial trends and measures, the constitution should preferably be one that
establishes a federal system with significant prerogatives reserved for the
regional, state, and local levels of government. In some situations the Swiss
system of cantons might be considered in which relatively small areas retain
major prerogatives, while remaining a part of the whole country.
If a constitution with many of these features existed earlier in the
newly liberated country’s history, it may be wise simply to restore it to
operation, amending it as deemed necessary and desirable. If a suitable older
constitution is not present, it may be necessary to operate with an interim
constitution. Otherwise, a new constitution will need to be prepared. Preparing
a new constitution will take considerable time and thought. Popular
participation in this process is desirable and required for ratification of a
new text or amendments. One should be very cautious about including in the
constitution promises that later might prove impossible to implement or
provisions that would require a highly centralized government, for both can
facilitate a new dictatorship.
The wording of the constitution should be easily understood by the
majority of the population. A constitution should not be so complex or
ambiguous that only lawyers or other elites can claim to understand it.
A democratic defense policy
The liberated country may also face foreign threats for which a defense
capacity would be required. The country might also be threatened by foreign
attempts to establish economic, political, or military domination.
In the interests of maintaining internal democracy, serious
consideration should be given to applying the basic principles of political
defiance to the needs of national defense.15
By placing resistance capacity directly in the hands of the citizenry, newly
liberated countries could avoid the need to establish a strong military
capacity which could itself threaten democracy or require vast economic
resources much needed for other purposes.
It must be remembered that some groups will ignore any constitutional
provision in their aim to establish themselves as new dictators. Therefore, a
permanent role will exist for the population to apply political defiance and
noncooperation against would-be dictators and to preserve democratic
structures, rights, and procedures.
A meritorious responsibility
The effect of nonviolent struggle is not only to weaken and remove the
dictators but also to empower the oppressed. This technique enables people who
formerly felt themselves to be only pawns or victims to wield power directly in
order to gain by their own efforts greater freedom and justice. This experience
of struggle has important psychological consequences, contributing to increased
self-esteem and self-confidence among the formerly powerless.
One important long-term beneficial consequence of the use of nonviolent
struggle for establishing democratic government is that the society will be
more capable of dealing with continuing and future problems. These might
include future governmental abuse and corruption, maltreatment of any group,
economic injustices, and limitations on the democratic qualities of the
political system. The population experienced in the use of political defiance
is less likely to be vulnerable to future dictatorships.
After liberation, familiarity with nonviolent struggle will provide ways
to defend democracy, civil liberties, minority rights, and prerogatives of
regional, state, and local governments and nongovernmental institutions. Such
means also provide ways by which people and groups can express extreme dissent
peacefully on issues seen as so important that opposition groups have sometimes
resorted to terrorism or guerrilla warfare.
The thoughts in this examination of political defiance or nonviolent
struggle are intended to be helpful to all persons and groups who seek to lift
dictatorial oppression from their people and to establish a durable democratic
system that respects human freedoms and popular action to improve the society.
There are three major conclusions to the ideas sketched here:
•Liberation from dictatorships is possible;
•Very careful thought and strategic planning will be required to achieve
it; and
•Vigilance, hard work, and disciplined struggle, often at great cost,
will be needed.
The oft quoted phrase “Freedom is not free” is true. No outside force is
coming to give oppressed people the freedom they so much want. People will have
to learn how to take that freedom themselves. Easy it cannot be.
If people can grasp what is required for their own liberation, they can
chart courses of action which, through much travail, can eventually bring them
their freedom. Then, with diligence they can construct a new democratic order
and prepare for its defense. Freedom won by struggle of this type can be
durable. It can be maintained by a tenacious people committed to its preservation
and enrichment.
Appendix
The Methods of Nonviolent Action 16
The Methods of Nonviolent Protest and Persuasion
Formal statements
1.Public speeches
2.Letters of opposition or support
3.Declarations by organizations and institutions
4.Signed public statements
5.Declarations of indictment and intention
6.Group or mass petitions
Communications with a wider audience
7.Slogans, caricatures, and symbols
8.Banners, posters, and displayed communications
9.Leaflets, pamphlets, and books
10.Newspapers and journals
11.Records, radio, and television
12.Skywriting and earthwriting
Group representations
13.Deputations
14.Mock awards
15.Group lobbying
16.Picketing
17.Mock elections
Symbolic public acts
18.Display of flags and symbolic colors
19.Wearing of symbols
20.Prayer and worship
21.Delivering symbolic objects
22.Protest disrobings
23.Destruction of own property
24.Symbolic lights
25.Displays of portraits
26.Paint as protest
27.New signs and names
28.Symbolic sounds
29.Symbolic reclamations
30.Rude gestures
Pressures on individuals
31.“Haunting” officials
32.Taunting officials
33.Fraternization
34.Vigils
Drama and music
35.Humorous skits and pranks
36.Performance of plays and music
37.Singing
Processions
38.Marches
39.Parades
40.Religious processions
41.Pilgrimages
42.Motorcades
Honoring the dead
43.Political mourning
44.Mock funerals
45.Demonstrative funerals
46.Homage at burial places
Public assemblies
47.Assemblies of protest or support
48.Protest meetings
49.Camouflaged meetings of protest
50.Teach-ins
Withdrawal and renunciation
51.Walk-outs
52.Silence
53.Renouncing honors
54.Turning one’s back
The Methods of Social Noncooperation
Ostracism of persons
55.Social boycott
56.Selective social boycott
57.Lysistratic nonaction
58.Excommunication
59.Interdict
Noncooperation with social events, customs, and
institutions
60.Suspension of social and sports activities
61.Boycott of social affairs
62.Student strike
63.Social disobedience
64.Withdrawal from social institutions
Withdrawal from the social system
65.Stay-at-home
66.Total personal noncooperation
67.Flight of workers
68.Sanctuary
69.Collective disappearance
70.Protest emigration (hijrat)
The Methods of Economic Noncooperation:
(1) Economic Boycotts
Action by consumers
71.Consumers’ boycott
72.Nonconsumption of boycotted goods
73.Policy of austerity
74.Rent withholding
75.Refusal to rent
76.National consumers’ boycott
77.International consumers’ boycott
Action by workers and producers
78.Workmen’s boycott
79.Producers’ boycott
Action by middlemen
80.Suppliers’ and handlers’ boycott
Action by owners and management
81.Traders’ boycott
82.Refusal to let or sell property
83.Lockout
84.Refusal of industrial assistance
85.Merchants’ “general strike”
Action by holders of financial resources
86.Withdrawal of bank deposits
87.Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments
88.Refusal to pay debts or interest
89.Severance of funds and credit
90.Revenue refusal
91.Refusal of a government’s money
Action by governments
92.Domestic embargo
93.Blacklisting of traders
94.International sellers’ embargo
95.International buyers’ embargo
96.International trade embargo
The Methods of Economic Noncooperation:
(2) The Strike
Symbolic strikes
97.Protest strike
98.Quickie walkout (lightning strike)
Agricultural strikes
99.Peasant strike
100.Farm workers’ strike
Strikes by special groups
101.Refusal of impressed labor
102.Prisoners’ strike
103.Craft strike
104.Professional strike
Ordinary industrial strikes
105.Establishment strike
106.Industry strike
107.Sympathetic strike
Restricted strikes
108.Detailed strike
109.Bumper strike
110.Slowdown strike
111.Working-to-rule strike
112.Reporting “sick” (sick-in)
113.Strike by resignation
114.Limited strike
115.Selective strike
Multi-industry strikes
116.Generalized strike
117.General strike
Combinations of strikes and economic closures
118.Hartal
119.Economic shutdown
The Methods of Political Noncooperation
Rejection of authority
120.Withholding or withdrawal of allegiance
121.Refusal of public support
122.Literature and speeches advocating resistance
Citizens’ noncooperation with government
123.Boycott of legislative bodies
124.Boycott of elections
125.Boycott of government employment and positions
126.Boycott of government departments, agencies, and other bodies
127.Withdrawal from government educational institutions
128.Boycott of government-supported organizations
129.Refusal of assistance to enforcement agents
130.Removal of own signs and placemarks
131.Refusal to accept appointed officials
132.Refusal to dissolve existing institutions
Citizens’ alternatives to obedience
133.Reluctant and slow compliance
134.Nonobedience in absence of direct supervision
135.Popular nonobedience
136.Disguised disobedience
137.Refusal of an assemblage or meeting to disperse
138.Sitdown
139.Noncooperation with conscription and deportation
140.Hiding, escape, and false identities
141.Civil disobedience of “illegitimate” laws
Action by government personnel
142.Selective refusal of assistance by government aides
143.Blocking of lines of command and information
144.Stalling and obstruction
145.General administrative noncooperation
146.Judicial noncooperation
147.Deliberate inefficiency and selective noncooperation by enforcement
agents
148.Mutiny
Domestic governmental action
149.Quasi-legal evasions and delays
150.Noncooperation by constituent governmental units
International governmental action
151.Changes in diplomatic and other representation
152.Delay and cancellation of diplomatic events
153.Withholding of diplomatic recognition
154.Severance of diplomatic relations
155.Withdrawal from international organizations
156.Refusal of membership in international bodies
157.Expulsion from international organizations
The Methods of Nonviolent Intervention
Psychological intervention
158.Self-exposure to the elements
159.The fast
(a) Fast of moral pressure
(b) Hunger strike
(c) Satyagrahic fast
160.Reverse trial
161.Nonviolent harassment
Physical intervention
162.Sit-in
163.Stand-in
164.Ride-in
165.Wade-in
166.Mill-in
167.Pray-in
168. Nonviolent raids
169.Nonviolent air raids
170.Nonviolent invasion
171.Nonviolent interjection
172.Nonviolent obstruction
173.Nonviolent occupation
Social intervention
174.Establishing new social patterns
175.Overloading of facilities
176.Stall-in
177.Speak-in
178.Guerrilla theater
179.Alternative social institutions
180.Alternative communication system
Economic intervention
181.Reverse strike
182.Stay-in strike
183.Nonviolent land seizure
184.Defiance of blockades
185.Politically motivated counterfeiting
186.Preclusive purchasing
187.Seizure of assets
188.Dumping
189.Selective patronage
190.Alternative markets
191. Alternative transportation systems
192.Alternative economic institutions
Political intervention
193.Overloading of administrative systems
194.Disclosing identities of secret agents
195.Seeking imprisonment
196.Civil disobedience of “neutral” laws
197.Work-on without collaboration
198.Dual sovereignty and parallel government
Notes
1The
term used in this context was introduced by Robert Helvey. “Political defiance”
is nonviolent struggle (protest, noncooperation, and intervention) applied
defiantly and actively for political purposes. The term originated in response
to the confusion and distortion created by equating nonviolent struggle with
pacifism and moral or religious “nonviolence.” “Defiance” denotes a deliberate
challenge to authority by disobedience, allowing no room for submission.
“Political defiance” describes the environment in which the action is employed
(political) as well as the objective (political power). The term is used
principally to describe action by populations to regain from dictatorships
control over governmental institutions by relentlessly attacking their sources
of power and deliberately using strategic planning and operations to do so. In
this paper, political defiance, nonviolent resistance, and nonviolent struggle
will be used interchangeably, although the latter two terms generally refer to
struggles with a broader range of objectives.
2Freedom
House, Freedom in the World, http://www.freedomhouse.org.
3Ibid.
4Patrick
Sarsfield O’Hegarty, A History of Ireland Under the Union, 1880–1922
(London: Methuen, 1952), pp. 490–91.
5Krishnalal
Shridharani, War Without Violence: A Study of Gandhi’s Method and Its
Accomplishments (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1939, and reprint New York and
London: Garland Publishing, 1972), p. 260.
6Aristotle,
The Politics, transl. by T. A. Sinclair (Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
England, and Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books 1976 [1962]), Book V, Chapter
12, pp. 231 and 232.
7This
story, originally titled “Rule by Tricks” is from Yu-li-zi by Liu Ji
(1311–1375) and has been translated by Sidney Tai, all rights reserved.
Yu-li-zi is also the pseudonym of Liu Ji. The translation was originally
published in Nonviolent Sanctions: News from the Albert Einstein Institution
(Cambridge, Mass.), Vol. IV, No. 3 (Winter 1992–1993), p. 3.
8Karl
W. Deutsch, “Cracks in the Monolith,” in Carl J. Friedrich, ed., Totalitarianism
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1954), pp. 313–14.
9John
Austin, Lectures on Jurisprudence or the Philosophy of Positive Law
(Fifth edition, revised and edited by Robert Campbell, 2 vol., London: John
Murray, 1911 [1861]), Vol. I, p. 296.
10Niccolo
Machiavelli, “The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy,” in The
Discourses of Niccolo Machiavelli (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1950),
Vol. I, p. 254.
11See
Gene Sharp, The Politics of Nonviolent Action (Boston: Porter Sargent,
1973), p. 75 and passim for other historical examples.
12Robert
Helvey, personal communication, 15 August 1993.
13Recommended
full-length studies are Gene Sharp, The Politics of Nonviolent Action,
(Boston, Massachusetts: Porter Sargent, 1973) and Peter Ackerman and
Christopher Kruegler, Strategic Nonviolent Conflict, (Westport,
Connecticut: Praeger, 1994). Also see Gene Sharp, Waging Nonviolent Stuggle:
Twentieth Century Practice and Twenty-First Century Potential. Boston:
Porter Sargent, 2005.
14Aristotle,
The Politics, Book V, Chapter 12, p. 233.
15See
Gene Sharp, Civilian-Based Defense: A Post-Military Weapons System
(Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990).
16This
list, with definitions and historical examples, is taken from Gene Sharp, The
Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part Two, The Methods of Nonviolent
Action.