Many people living today in America and around the world have direct experience with countries where an autocrat has seized control. Others have seen charismatic, populist leaders come to power within democracies and dramatically change the rules for the
public, activists, and journalists alike.
In Rules for Resistance, writers from
Russia, Turkey, India, Hungary, Chile, China, Canada, Italy, and elsewhere, tell
Americans what to expect under our own new regime, and give us guidance for
living—and for resisting—in the Trump era.
Advice includes being on the watch for the prosecution of political opponents,
the use of libel laws to attack critics, the gutting of non-partisan institutions,
and the selective application of the law.
A special section on the challenges for journalists reporting on and under a
leader like Donald Trump addresses issues of free speech, the importance of
press protections, and the critical role of investigative journalists in an
increasingly closed society. An introduction by ACLU legal director David Cole
looks at the crucial role institutions have in preserving democracy and resisting
autocracy.
A chilling but necessary collection, Rules for Resistance distills the collective
knowledge and wisdom of those who 'have seen this before'.
