The Authoritarian Playbook: Updated 2024
Overview & Context
“The Authoritarian Playbook” is an updated 2024 guide by Protect Democracy, identifying and explaining the systematic tactics used by authoritarian leaders to undermine democratic institutions.
🎯 Purpose & Structure
- A practical toolkit for policymakers, civil society, and watchdogs to recognize and counter authoritarian tactics.
- Divided into sections covering core strategies: delegitimization, power consolidation, opponent suppression, and co-opting institutions.
🔍 Key Tactics Highlighted
- Undermining elections: through delegitimizing results, manipulating rules, and spreading disinformation.
- Consolidating control: by packing courts, politicizing civil services, and centralizing executive authority.
- Criminalizing dissent: with national security laws, emergency powers, and selective prosecutions.
- Co-opting institutions: using loyalist appointments, agency takeovers, and budgetary maneuvers to subdue independent bodies.
🌍 Why It Matters
- Reflects global trends in democratic decline and authoritarian resurgence.
- Offers actionable recommendations: from legal safeguards to civic mobilization frameworks.
- Serves as both a warning and roadmap for strengthening democratic resilience before norms break down.
“This playbook distills common authoritarian techniques—used in countries ranging from Hungary to Myanmar—to help democratic societies recognize and resist.” — Protect Democracy
📚 Citation
Protect Democracy. (2024, March). The Authoritarian Playbook: Updated 2024. Retrieved from https://protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/The-Authoritarian-Playbook-Updated.pdf
Summary generated by ChatGPT (GPT‑4).