How do nonviolent movements succeed — and avoid getting crushed by repressive regimes? Take Serbia: Since November 2024, student-led vigils have grown into nationwide protests against government corruption, negligence, and impunity, and continue almost every day. How have they kept up steam for more than eight months? As Breza Race Maksimovic and Srdja Popovic explain in a new Journal of Democracy online exclusive, Serbs have the coordination, discipline, creativity, and determination to make change happen.
Steadfast, nonviolent movements are often the most effective way to counter an authoritarian. The JoD essays below explain how to start, sharpen, and sustain a movement. Read them for free for a limited time.
How Serbian Students Created the Largest Protest Movement in Decades
They have been smart, creative, leaderless, and transparent. And they aren’t targeting any one politician or party. They aim to change the entire system.
Breza Race Maksimovic and Srdja PopovicHow to Sharpen a Nonviolent Movement
The record shows that movements using “dilemma actions” — creative protests that make a regime look foolish — are often more effective at undermining authoritarians. Activists should add such tactics to their toolkit.
Sophia McClennen, Srdja Popovic, and Joseph WrightHow Oppositions Fight Back
Behind today’s authoritarian wave are democratically elected leaders who use and abuse institutions to undermine the system that brought them to power. But with the right strategies, opposition forces can slow or stop these would-be autocrats.
Laura GamboaThe Future of Nonviolent Resistance
In the decade leading up to the covid-19 pandemic, nonviolent civil resistance grew more popular than ever — but its effectiveness had already started to plummet. The future of nonviolent resistance may depend on movements’ ability to move beyond mass protests toward exploring alternative tactics and developing smarter, longer-term strategies.
Erica ChenowethThe Instinct for Freedom
The mass protests that have taken place in 2019 in Hong Kong and elsewhere show that people’s desire for liberty cannot be extinguished.
Carl GershmanThe Source of Georgia’s Democratic Resilience
Even as Georgia lurches toward autocracy, the country’s pluralism and democratic culture are deepening. What can Georgia’s contradictory trends reveal about democratic resilience?
Elene Panchulidze and Richard Youngs
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