How to Stop Authoritarianism: What Every Funder Needs to Know

Startling abuses of power and unconstitutional actions have become commonplace in the United States in the past year. In 2026, these activities are likely to accelerate as state and civic institutions are potentially seized or hollowed out, dissent is choked, and the press, civil society, and marginalized groups are pushed further to the margins.

As this deeply unsettling year comes to a close, every funder, regardless of its organization’s mandate, must ask itself whether it’s doing enough. Philanthropic leaders need to demonstrate that they will not be intimidated by threats from a government determined to silence those it disagrees with.

The nation’s drift toward authoritarianism isn’t inevitable, but the time to act is short. Pro-democracy coalitions in countries such as Brazil and Poland faced similar challenges and organized strategically to stop the backsliding and re-embrace democracy as the governing system best suited to meet the needs of everyday people. 

Drawing on such examples, U.S. philanthropy and its civil society partners should respond with forcefulness and urgency to similarly reverse course and ultimately improve the nation’s democracy. This will require deploying two sets of well-tested approaches — “guardrail” and “breakthrough” strategies — a one-two combination that has proven effective at halting authoritarian takeovers and harmful policies. 

Guardrail strategies seek accountability for government abuses of power through the checks and balances provided by the courts, a robust and independent press, free and fair elections, and the independent authority of state and local governments. Breakthrough strategies use mass organizing and training on nonviolent protest to equip large numbers of people with the skills to peacefully resist government overreach and ensure those guardrails stay in place. 

Strengthening Guardrails

Our foundations — the Democracy Fund, the Open Society Foundations, and the Freedom Together Foundation — have long supported groups that regularly deploy guardrail strategies. Those organizations include Democracy Forward and the American Civil Liberties Union, which have joined state attorneys general in contributing to the more than 300 lawsuits filed this year to protect civil rights and defend the Constitution. They have challenged the Trump administration’s unconstitutional executive order to restrict birthright citizenship, sought to prevent the gutting of federal agencies, and stood up for due process and the rule of law. 

Court orders have stopped or slowed harmful actions, including by protecting the privacy of people on food assistance, defending vital health research funding, and protecting law firms’ independence in response to the administration’s unlawful attempts at intimidation.  

Similarly, supporting local, independent, and nonpartisan journalism provides a guardrail against mis- and disinformation and ensures the impact of national policy is widely understood. The media outlet The 51^st, for example, is extensively covering military deployments in Washington, D.C., and other instances of executive overreach that undermine local democracy. Immigrant-focused newsrooms are providing multilingual reporting that informs communities with timely and accurate information. This kind of journalism helps empower an informed population, especially as federal funding cuts decimate public media and the Trump administration files lawsuits against news organizations for reporting it doesn’t like.

With the midterms less than a year away, ensuring the integrity of elections is also critical. That’s why we’re backing nonpartisan organizations, such as  Public Rights Project’s Election Protection Hub, focused on bolstering election security, protecting voting rights, and encouraging widespread civic participation by all eligible voters.

Nonprofits are at the heart of all these efforts. Funders must protect their ability to operate freely by defending them against digital, physical, legal, financial, and reputational attacks that are largely meant to silence free speech and dissent. 

Achieving Breakthroughs

While guardrail strategies are important, they’re insufficient. For generations, breakthrough strategies have acted as a reinforcement to guardrail strategies and have been central to successful pro-democracy movements in the United States and abroad. They were a foundational part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, although they have been used less often in this country in recent years. Effective breakthrough efforts encompass the following three strategies:

Delegitimization of executive overreach. In places such as Chicago, delegitimization tactics have been used daily by residents who opposed the deployment of federal forces and the cruel and unlawful actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Everyday Chicagoans have organized, protested, and provided mutual aid through their churches, parent-teacher groups, schools, and clubs.

Their collective bravery helped undermine the administration’s actions and encouraged others, including Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders, to stand up in response to ICE. Business leaders issued a  statement about the impact of National Guard mobilization on both the economy and the constitutional rights of city residents. Black leaders spoke out about the patterns of profiling and discrimination by agents and the impact on their communities and the local economy.  

Embrace noncooperation. Actions such as boycotts and labor strikes have historically played a pivotal role in shifting the balance of power by using nonviolent, lawful means to impose economic and political costs on those supporting authoritarian policies. Among the most famous examples were the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Freedom Rides. These carefully calibrated actions disrupted unjust systems and awakened the conscience of a nation. 

Today’s organizers have planted their own seeds of lawful and peaceful disruption. Atlanta pastor Jamal Bryant and other Black leaders spearheaded a nationwide consumer boycott of Target over the company’s retreat from DEI initiatives, resulting in plummeting stock prices and the resignation of its CEO. Advocates in Los Angeles led a 24-hour “community stoppage” that included boycotts of area businesses in protest of ICE raids. The massive wave of Disney+ and Hulu subscription cancellations after Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air show the widespread potential of these efforts. Some labor leaders have even begun to talk about large-scale collective action. 

Alliance building. Creating a big tent coalition is critical — in this case of all those disillusioned by the Trump administration’s actions. That coalition must welcome people of diverse views, backgrounds, and political ideologies to work together for a more united and inclusive nation.

Several recent efforts offer inspiration. In Michigan, organizers brought together Black people in southeast Michigan, citizens of the Lac Vieux Desert tribe, white working-class residents of the Upper Peninsula, and migrant farmworkers to advance a broad agenda that resulted in the passage of transformative policies in areas such as affordable housing. In some of the most conservative regions of the country, initiatives like United Today, Stronger Tomorrow engage people across the ideological spectrum to identify community priorities, design and execute campaigns, and deliver concrete improvements in people’s lives. 

Safeguarding democratic principles is an ongoing endeavor that requires engaged citizens to speak up. The reversal of other attempted authoritarian takeovers around the world have in many cases resulted in stronger democracies. That can happen here, too. 

We urge philanthropic leaders of all persuasions to stand up for democratic principles and join us in bringing energy, ideas, and funding to this work. Changing our nation’s path will require many of us working together to reclaim our democracy, demonstrate unequivocally that authoritarianism is never the answer, and point the way toward a better future.