Pillars of Support Caselets

A Report from the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins and Horizons Project

Click here to read the collected caselets.

How can a national pro-democracy movement best protect and advance American democracy? Rising political violence, politicization of previously apolitical institutions, and attacks on the rule of law trouble many who love and respect the American democratic experiment. Yet it is often difficult to know how each of us individually, embedded in our own personal and professional concerns, can best advance democracy.

Fortunately, both in the United States and abroad, there is a rich tradition of civil and social action that has protected, defended, and advanced democracy. Ordinary people have shown extraordinary creativity, courage, and commitment in maintaining the freedoms they hold dear. The cases in this table provide a few emblematic stories from that vast and growing tradition. It is organized around two basic principles: pro-democracy action comes from diverse kinds of people and it employs diverse tactics. The table seeks to capture some of that diversity by providing a series of caselets at the intersections of five social groups (which we refer to as pillars of support) with six tactics of action.

Pillars of Support are the groups and institutions that maintain a social or political system. They are the avenues through which power flows up from the people to political leaders. We are all embedded in various pillars of support, from the businesses where we work to the faith communities where we worship. And that embeddedness gives every one of us influence over our larger political system. The caselets here focus on five pillars of support that are important both across many global contexts and in the United States: businesses, unions, professional associations, faith communities, and veteran’s groups.

We focus on diverse tactics because not all pro-democracy action looks alike. A comprehensive campaign to protect American democracy may involve quiet conversations behind closed doors, late-night meetings in church sanctuaries and union halls, coordinated boycotts, and protest marches on the streets.

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