Resist.

The means by which ‘democratic backsliding’ into authoritarianism happens follows a clear, well-understood programme. Viktor Orban in Hungary, Donald Trump in the US at time of writing, and – though some are too hesitant to draw the parallel, perhaps from a kind of shocked disbelief that it is happening again – Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s where the programme was implemented at speed, all exemplify it.

It begins with popularist capture of the democratic process, made easier if the structures of the democracy are manipulable because of the factors described in these^[1] pages. Once in power an authoritarian entity, whether an individual helped by compliant lieutenants or a party machine, having already laid the groundwork in the rhetoric used to gain support among enough of the electorate to gain office, sets to work as follows.

It politicises the agencies of government and independent state bodies by getting rid of staff seen as unsympathetic to its agenda, replacing them with its own people, typically posting its cronies in the highest positions. It weakens the judiciary, and controls what can be taught in educational institutions. Within the first two months of the second Trump presidency this process had either happened or begun with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Federal Reserve (central bank), the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and others.^[2]

The authoritarian entity spreads misinformation and disinformation, and aids the proliferation of both by quashing dissent, interfering with mainstream media organisations by bullying them, censoring them, denying them licenses to operate, threatening journalists or suborning them, and by lifting controls on the requirements for truth, fact and limiting of hate speech on social media platforms.^[3] In the US this has been easy because the platforms are controlled by a small group of ultra-rich individuals who have aligned themselves with the Trump machine because they stand to profit thereby. Control of the flow of information, and in places such as Hungary (and even, to a degree, in the UK) using state-controlled media as propaganda outlets, allows distortions or outright falsehoods about vulnerable populations, not least immigrants and other minorities, to be used to demonise and scapegoat them as the source of the problems faced by disaffected groups. Misinformation becomes the main message, and is a powerful tool for distracting the populace, polarising it and redirecting its disaffections towards scapegoats and the authoritarian regime’s opponents.

The authoritarian entity encourages or condones violence by groups (vide ‘January 6’ insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol in Washington; ‘Kristallnacht’ in Germany in November 1938) which support the authoritarian entity, and itself uses threatening rhetoric against individuals (vide Trump’s verbal attacks on e.g. Liz Cheney and Hillary Clinton) which in most cases of the historical unfolding of this process has resulted, sooner or later, in actual attacks, imprisonment or assassination.^[4] It uses the military against protestors and in rounding-up people to be deported or detained.

It aggrandises the leader or the party, concentrates powers in its hands, and weakens or dismantles constitutional checks to the exercise of its power.

It corrupts the electoral process by changing the rules, denying the vote to specified groups, even lying about the outcome and claiming overwhelming support.

The authoritarian entity’s direct aim is to weaken civil society, stifle opposition, mobilise its base as a supplementary force for controlling the state, undermine the rule of law in order to be above the law, control information, control the instruments of coercion (police and military), and thereby to remain permanently in power. An outright coup can effect all this in a single night; in Hungary and (at time of writing) the US the coup is a process, though – aided by a following wind, blown by the cumulative effect of the rise of far-right politics in a number of democracies – the US process has been faster than in Hungary.^[5]

How is this process to be opposed? The advice of Maria Ressa, Filipino journalist and campaigner, who was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight against the Philippine dictator Rodrigo Duterte, is clear (I paraphrase): ‘What you do straight away matters; every day you do nothing you get weaker – you have to ask yourself what you are prepared to sacrifice – you have to defend the facts, the truth, and your rights: you have to draw a line. Collaborate with others in the endeavour, organise with civil society groups, do not be indifferent to what is happening to others such as vilification or oppression of targeted groups. Oppose authoritarian tendencies at every turn. Do not “obey in advance”. Keep information flowing’. Above all, focus on what needs to be done: to repeat, every day you do nothing you grow weaker. Act before the process gets too far.’^[6]

It might seem, to the isolated individual, that this is a very tall order. But one should not underestimate the power of individuals and communities of interest. After all, the authoritarians themselves did it – though admittedly they had money and convenient prepositioning on their side. But what is the option – to succumb? No. And forever No. Therefore ask yourself what you are prepared to do, what you are prepared to sacrifice. And then as your mantra repeat continually: Do not obey in advance. Every day you do nothing you grow weaker. Resist. Resist by every morally legitimate and principled means. But resist, and never give up.

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^[1] In Grayling For the People forthcoming November 2025.

^[2] The New York Times kept a running list of Trump’s initiatives from soon after his inauguration in January 2025 and can be consulted in that source.

^[3] Trump banning Associated Press and Reuters from White House press briefings because they refuse o uncritically relay falsehoods uttered at the podium, while inviting social media ‘influencers’ who support his agenda in their place, and Mark Zuckerberg’s abolition of fact controls on his social media platforms, are staring examples.

^[4] See Amy Slipowitz and Mina Loldj for Freedom House ‘Silenced’ https://freedomhouse.org/article/silenced-prison-repressed-outside-damage-done-political-imprisonment-and-civil-death; A. S. Matthews ‘Political Purges’ The Loop European Consortium for Political Research 2 September 2022 https://theloop.ecpr.eu/political-purges-and-their-importance-for-dictators/

^[5] A salutary experience is provided by watching 2073, a film by Asif Kapadia

^[6] See the Free Press panel discussion with Maria Ressa et. al.

(retrieved 28 February 2025) and Maria Ressa How to Stand Up to a Dictator (Random House 2022).