Specific Skills useful for advocating for electoral democracy
The resources available below are readily available to individuals and orgs either online or by requesting a workshop or training. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are easily available online. There are more resources on Youtube and Instagram not listed here.
Action and Civil Disobedience Trainings
*Protest Planner, by Center for Constitutional Rights https://ccrjustice.org/
https://ccrjustice.org/toolkit-for-the-movement (protest/civil disobedience planner; Defend Against ICE Raids & Arrests; If an Agent Knocks (federal agent targeting); FOIA)
*Choosedemocracy.us guide to prepare for" action security and de-escalation" with counter protesters:
https://choosedemocracy.us/trainings-in-a-trump-era/
Combatting Disinformation
Combatting misinformation and deceit: https://lawfortruth.org/about/ by ProtectDemocracy,org
many other nonprofit organizations in the United States are doing this work—see Public Citizen and others.
Defending Targeted Groups
*How to Defend Against ICE Raids & Arrests, Center for Constitutional Rights https://ccrjustice.org/ https://ccrjustice.org/toolkit-for-the-movement
Mijente.org deportation defense trainings
Digital and Movement Security
*Vision Change Win (2024) in-depth process of building organizational security. https://visionchangewin.org/
*How Agent Provocateurs Harm Our Movements, Steve Chase (downloadable pdf) https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource-library/?fwp_language=english
*Vision Change Win, Community Safety Toolkit https://visionchangewin.org/ (used for Black Lives Movement of 2020)
Medical Care for Protests and Other Police/Vigilante/Paramilitary Encounters
Protestor Health and Safety https://bostoncoop.net/~balm/
*Guideline for Pepper Spray and Chemical Irritants – many available online
*Frontline Medics Study Guide, Resources, and Curriculum (available on Instagram) https://frontlinemedics.org/training-2/
*Spanish Phrase Book for First Aid-Trained Activists https://bostoncoop.net/~balm/
*Frontline Wellness Kits https://frontlinemedicaldefense.com/
More resources on specific skills also available:
Hardy Merriman of Waging Nonviolence.org provides trainings on many topics on request: https://hardymerriman.com/services-for-activists-and-organizers/
* https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource-library/?fwp_language=english
* https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource-library/?fwp_language=english (downloadable pdf)
Mutual Aid
Mutual Aid Introductions: https://www.deanspade.net/category/video/
Mutual Aid: many examples and projects; see BigDoorBrigade for starters: https://bigdoorbrigade.com/
*Dean Spade and friends: https://www.deanspade.net/2020/12/05/bluestockings-book-launch-with-mia-mingus/
Responding to Political Violence
*Action Security and De-escalation (2 hour webinar): https://choosedemocracy.us/trainings-in-a-trump-era/
Free Trainings about how to end political violence for individuals and orgs on request from End Political Violence https://www.endpoliticalviolence.org/
*Harnessing Out Power to End (HOPE) Political Violence, by Hardy Merriman https://hardymerriman.com/writings/
Stopping a Coup or Declaration of Martial Law
*Nonviolence International https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/training_resources
Training Manual for Nonviolent Defense against a Coup d’etat, by Richard Taylor
*Hold the Line Guide, Hardy Merriman and others (developed for 2020 election) https://www.holdthelineguide.com/
*How to Prevent a Coup, by S. Zunes https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/civil-resistance-against-coups/
1-2025
Resources Useful for Fighting Autocrats & Advocating for Electoral Democracy
The resources available below are readily available to individuals and orgs either online or by requesting a workshop or training. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are easily available online. There are more resources on Youtube and Instagram not listed here.
Many of these resources draw on decades of experience fighting dictators and autocrats in countries where electoral democracy has failed to hold onto power. A few resources have been generated in the United States over the past decade as Trump and other elected leaders have shown they want to destroy electoral democracy from within.
More resources on specific skills also available: https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource-library/?fwp_language=english
How do Authoritarians Operate? Are they active in the United States? How can they be resisted?
*How Do Authoritarians Rule? Protect Democracy, https://protectdemocracy.org/work/the-authoritarian-playbook/ (Worth Fighting For Host Guide)
*On Tryanny: 20 Lessons from Fascism in the Twentieth Century, Tim Snyder
https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/series/gt/20180221-on-tyranny-twenty-lessons-twentieth-century-timothy-snyder
*The Ten Tactics of Fascism, with Jason Stanley, Yale University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpCKkWMbmXU
*ChooseDemocracy.org has a beginner’s guide single page with 2 minute videos, podcasts, evidence that dictators can be defeated, and a resistance guidebook.
https://choosedemocracy.us/#resources (Their resistance guidebook has sections on easy things to do, medium difficulty, and more advanced things to do.)
*Democracy is a Verb https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/07/democracy-is-a-verb/
*What Will You Do If Trump Wins: An interactive adventure, by Daniel Hunter whatiftrumpwins.org
*How to Protect Democracy: 29 Concrete Actions You Can Take Right Now, from https://protectdemocracy.org/how-to-protect-democracy/
Resources for Movement Building:
*2 hour training series on basic skills: strategy; vision; action security and de-escalation; mutual aid; ending political violence; talking with people who may disagree;
https://choosedemocracy.us/trainings-in-a-trump-era/
*Fostering a Fourth Democratic Wave: A Playbook for Countering the Authoritarian Threat, by Hardy Merriman and others
* https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource-library/?fwp_language=english (downloadable pdf)
*198 methods of Nonviolent Action, Gene Sharp’s guide to building resistance to dictators: https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/198-methods-of-nonviolent-action/
*“Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, with Erica Chenoweth: https://www.momentumcommunity.org/webinars
*Building Mass Movements: A Guide https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/in-crisis-we-need-more-people-power-mass-trainings-key/
Free webinars: https://www.momentumcommunity.org/guides
*Checklist for Ending Tyranny, by Peter Acker and Hardy Merriman (2015). https://hardymerriman.com/writings/ (see chapters section)
Online workshop for this pamphlet is available from Int’l Center for Nonviolent Conflict https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/services/#section-2
*Movement Building and Civil Resistance: Key Resources for Organizers, by Hardy Merriman https://hardymerriman.com/writings/ (short overview—reading can be completed in 20 hours)
* Civil Resistance Struggles, online unmoderated 7-week course provided by Int’l Center for Nonviolent Conflict https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/services/#section-2
* How to Prevent a Coup, by Stephen Zunes https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/civil-resistance-against-coups/
*The Democracy Playbook 7 Pillars for 2025 & beyond https://www.brookings.edu/articles/democracy-playbook-2025/