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Gene Sharp

Gene Sharp Books

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“It should be remembered that against a dictatorship the objective of the grand strategy is not simply to bring down the dictators but to install a democratic system and make the rise of a new dictatorship impossible. To accomplish these objectives, the chosen means of struggle will need to contribute to a change in the distribution of effective power in the society. Under the dictatorship the population and civil institutions of the society have been too weak, and the government too strong. Without a change in the imbalance, a new set of rulers can, if they wish, be just as dictatorial as the old ones. A 'palace revolution' or a coup d'etat therefore is not welcome.”

Resistance2010Coup D éTatPlanning For DemocracyPlanning Strategy
Book:From Dictatorship to Democracy
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“It must be remembered that some groups will ignore any constitutional provision in their aim to establish themselves as new dictators. Therefore, a permanent role will exist for the population to apply political defiance and noncooperation against would-be dictators and to preserve democratic structures, rights, and procedures.”

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Book:From Dictatorship to Democracy
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“Nonviolent action involves opposing the opponent's power, including his police and military capacity, not with the weapons chosen by him but by quite different means. Repression by the opponent is used against his own power position in a kind of political "ju-jitsu" and the very sources of his power thus reduced or removed, with the result that his political and military position is seriously weakened or destroyed.”

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Author:Gene Sharp
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“The fall of one regime does not bring in a utopia. Rather, it opens the way for hard work and long efforts to build more just social, economic,and political relationships and the eradication of other forms of injustices and oppression.”

WayLongDoeHardFormPoliticalFallSocialChallengesEffortEconomicHard WorkInjusticeOppressionRegimesUtopiaInjustice And Oppression
Book:From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation
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“Dictatorships usually exist primarily because of the internal power distribution in the home country. The population and society are too weak to cause the dictatorship serious problems, wealth and power are concentrated in too few hands. Although dictatorships may benefit from or be somewhat weakened by international actions, their continuation is dependent primarily on internal factors.”

MayCountryProblemHomeHandsActionCausesWealthSeriousBenefitsWeakInternationalPopulationFactorsDependentInternalsDictatorshipDistributionContinuationHome Country
Book:From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation
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“Whatever promises offered by dictators in any negotiated settlement, no one should ever forget that the dictators may promise anything to secure submission from their democratic opponents, and then brazenly violate those same agreements.”

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Book:From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation
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“Further, democratic negotiators, or foreign negotiation specialists accepted to assist in the negotiations, may in a single stroke provide the dictators with the domestic and international legitimacy that they had been previously denied because of their seizure of the state, human rights violations, and brutalities. Without that desperately needed legitimacy, the dictators cannot continue to rule indefinitely.”

HumansMayStatesRightsNeededDemocraticInternationalHuman RightsAcceptedDeniedDictatorStrokesNegotiationViolationBrutalitySpecialistsLegitimacySeizures
Book:From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation
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“There’s one thing that’s been 'learned' maybe from Tunisia and Egypt that I think is a mistake. And that is that the existing ruler has to resign. He doesn’t have to resign. You take all the supports out from under him; he falls. No matter what he wants to do. This is the distinction in the analyses between nonviolent coercion in which he has to resign, but he’s forced into it, and disintegration when the regime simply falls apart. There’s nobody left with enough power to resign.”

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Author:Gene Sharp
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