From
DICTATORSHIP
to
DEMOCRACY
A Conceptual Framework for Liberation Fourth U.S. Edition
Gene Sharp
The Albert Einstein Institution
All material appearing in this publication is in the public domain~ Citation of the source, and notification to the Albert Einstein Institution for the reproduction, translation, and reprinting of this publication, are requested.
First Edition, May 2002 Second Edition, June 2003 Third Edition, February 2008 Fourth Edition, May 2010
From Dictatorship to Democracy was originally published in Bangkok in 1993 by the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma in association with Khit Pyaing (The New Era Journal). It has since been translated into at least thirty-one other languages and has been published in Serbia, Indonesia, and Thailand, among other countries. This is the fourth United States Edition.
Printed in the United States of America. Printed on Recycled Paper.
The Albert Einstein Institution
P.O. Box 455 East Boston, MA 02128, USA Teclass="underline" USA +1 617-247-4882 Fax: USA +1 617-247-4035 E-maiclass="underline" einstein@igc.org Website: www.aeinstein.org
ISBN 1-880813-09-2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface vii
One
Facing Dictatorships Realistically 1
A continuing problem 2
Freedom through violence? 4
Coups, elections, foreign saviors? 5
Facing the hard truth 7
Two
The Dangers of Negotiations 9
Merits and limitations of negotiations 10
Negotiated surrender? 10
Power and justice in negotiations 12
"Agreeable" dictators 13
What kind of peace? 14
Reasons for hope 14
Three
Whence Comes the Power? 17
The "Monkey Master" fable 17
Necessary sources of political power 18
Centers of democratic power 21
Four
Dictatorships Have Weaknesses 25
Identifying the Achilles' heel 25
Weaknesses of dictatorships 26
Attacking weaknesses of dictatorships 27
Five
Exercising Power 29
The workings of nonviolent struggle 30
Nonviolent weapons and discipline 30
Openness, secrecy, and high standards 33
Shifting power relationships 34
Four mechanisms of change 35
Democratizing effects of political defiance 37
Complexity of nonviolent struggle 38
The need for Strategic Planning 39
Realistic planning 39
Hurdles to planning 40
Four important terms in strategic planning 43
Seven
Planning Strategy 47
Choice of means 48
Planning for democracy 49
External assistance 50
Formulating a grand strategy 50
Planning campaign strategies 53
Spreading the idea of noncooperation 55
Repression and countermeasures 56
Adhering to the strategic plan 57
Eight
Applying Political Defiance 59
Selective resistance 59
Symbolic challenge 60
Spreading responsibility 61
Aiming at the dictators' power 62
Shifts in strategy 64
Nine
Disintegrating The Dictatorship 67
Escalating freedom 69
Disintegrating the dictatorship 70
Handling success responsibly 71
Ten
Groundwork For Durable Democracy 73
Threats of a new dictatorship 73
Blocking coups 74
Constitution drafting 75
A democratic defense policy 76
A meritorious responsibility 76
Appendix One
The Methods Of Nonviolent Action 79
Appendix Two
Acknowledgements and Notes on
The History of From Dictatorship to Democracy 87
Appendix Three
A Note About Translations and
93
Reprinting of this publication 91
For Further Reading
Preface
One of my major concerns for many years has been how people could prevent and destroy dictatorships. This has been nurtured in part because of a belief that human beings should not be dominated and destroyed by such regimes. That belief has been strengthened by readings on the importance of human freedom, on the nature of dictatorships (from Aristotle to analysts of totalitarianism), and histories of dictatorships (especially the Nazi and Stalinist systems).
Over the years I have had occasion to get to know people who lived and suffered under Nazi rule, including some who survived concentration camps. In Norway I met people who had resisted fascist rule and survived, and heard of those who perished. I talked with Jews who had escaped the Nazi clutches and with persons who had helped to save them.
Knowledge of the terror of Communist rule in various countries has been learned more from books than personal contacts. The terror of these systems appeared to me to be especially poignant for these dictatorships were imposed in the name of liberation from oppression and exploitation.
In more recent decades through visits of persons from dicta- torially ruled countries, such as Panama, Poland, Chile, Tibet, and Burma, the realities of today's dictatorships became more real. From Tibetans who had fought against Chinese Communist aggression, Russians who had defeated the August 1991 hard-line coup, and Thais who had nonviolently blocked a return to military rule, I have gained often troubling perspectives on the insidious nature of dictatorships.
The sense of pathos and outrage against the brutalities, along with admiration of the calm heroism of unbelievably brave men and women, were sometimes strengthened by visits to places where the dangers were still great, and yet defiance by brave people continued. These included Panama under Noriega; Vilnius, Lithuania, under continued Soviet repression; Tiananmen Square, Beijing, during both the festive demonstration of freedom and while the first armored personnel carriers entered that fateful night; and the jungle headquarters of the democratic opposition at Manerplaw in "liberated Burma."
Sometimes I visited the sites of the fallen, as the television tower and the cemetery in Vilnius, the public park in Riga where people had been gunned down, the center of Ferrara in northern Italy where the fascists lined up and shot resisters, and a simple cemetery in Manerplaw filled with bodies of men who had died much too young. It is a sad realization that every dictatorship leaves such death and destruction in its wake.
Out of these concerns and experiences grew a determined hope that prevention of tyranny might be possible, that successful struggles against dictatorships could be waged without mass mutual slaughters, that dictatorships could be destroyed and new ones prevented from rising out of the ashes.