In recent years, authoritarian regimes have targeted democratic participation and norms in their countries by eroding government institutions, legal systems, and electoral accountability for leaders. The "authoritarian playbook" has been on display in Russia, Venezuela, Hungary, the Philippines, Poland, Nicaragua, India, Turkey — and the United States.
The 2024 election has become a staging ground for some of the boldest authoritarian promises to ever come from a presidential candidate, including activating the military to instill order on home soil and weaponizing the Department of Justice against his opponents (“vermin” who need to be “rooted out”). What might have once been dismissed as empty rhetoric is being backed by serious plans (the best known among them Project 2025) for how a presidential administration can consolidate power by doing things like seizing control of federal spending, decimating the federal workforce, and undermining judicial independence.
To better understand what specifically could be at risk and how we might best prepare, the Brennan Center’s Democracy Futures Project hosted a large-scale, multi-day set of “war games” with distinguished participants from major centers of influence in government and civil society. The exercises were designed to explore in detail possible abuses of power that might occur after Inauguration Day, in order to ensure that pro-democracy allies have the tools to anticipate, restrain, and mitigate such abuses.
Join DFN for an intimate conversation with the leaders and participants of these exercises to discuss implications for philanthropy's role defending American institutions from future authoritarian threats.
Featured Speakers:
Barton Gellman, The Brennan Center for Justice
Rosa Brooks, Georgetown Law
Liza Goitein, The Brennan Center for Justice
Trevor Morrison, The Brennan Center for Justice