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How to Save Democracy: The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook
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Expected 22 Sep 26Dive deeper into the authoritarian leaders of yesterday and take practical steps today toward a better democratic society tomorrow, with past and present examples from around the world. How do democracies die? We’re watching it happen in real time. Elected domestic and international leaders are undermining democratic institutions, weaponizing government agencies, and fueling dangerous polarization. Turn on the news—or scroll social media—and the result is fear, anger, and a growing sense of helplessness as citizens wonder, I’m just one person—what can I possibly do?
More than simple analysis, How to Save The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook empowers everyday citizens with practical, peaceful steps to turn anxiety into action and defend democratic institutions. Drawing on history, scholarly research, and her own experience working with refugees across Europe and Asia, Melissa Dalton-Bradford lays out core patterns in the authoritarian playbook, provides global examples of how these patterns have played out in history and modern day, and offers solutions for how citizens—as individuals and as groups—can take immediate action to reverse the erosion of democracy in their communities.
More than simple analysis, How to Save The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook empowers everyday citizens with practical, peaceful steps to turn anxiety into action and defend democratic institutions. Drawing on history, scholarly research, and her own experience working with refugees across Europe and Asia, Melissa Dalton-Bradford lays out core patterns in the authoritarian playbook, provides global examples of how these patterns have played out in history and modern day, and offers solutions for how citizens—as individuals and as groups—can take immediate action to reverse the erosion of democracy in their communities.
- GenresPolitics
324 pages, Paperback
Expected publication September 22, 2026
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June 5, 2026Thanks to NetGalley and Familius for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
It won’t surprise anyone living on this side of the Atlantic, but the political noise coming out of the United States sounds increasingly fascist-adjacent.
When Francis Fukuyama wrote The End of History in 1992, he argued that Western liberal democracy was humanity's final ideological destination. He was wrong. Lately, we've watched authoritarian backsliding sweep through Brazil, Hungary, and the Philippines. Now, the ultimate test has arrived. The US voted twice for a leader intent on dismantling every democratic guardrail in sight. It’s thoroughly entertaining if you view it as an episode of Veep, but the reality is dead serious.
Enter Melissa Dalton-Bradford. Writing from Germany, she is clearly deeply concerned about the democratic recession in her American homeland. In the urgent style of Timothy Snyder and Anne Applebaum, she unpacks eleven tactics that wannabe dictators love to use—like attacking the truth, scapegoating the vulnerable, and corrupting elections. Her historical case studies are sharp, and terrifyingly, one of her primary examples is always the modern United States.
But this isn't just a book of doom and gloom. What struck me most was the author's passionate, grassroots plea for action.
Dalton-Bradford refuses to let us treat politics like a spectator sport. She firmly rejects the idea that we should just sit back and wait for politicians to fix the mess. Instead, she empowers us to grab the reins of democracy ourselves.
While her examples lean heavily on the US, her solutions are universally applicable. I closed this book feeling genuinely optimistic. It is a roadmap for everyday resistance, and I know I’ll keep returning to it—especially for her brilliant, practical advice on how to have productive political conversations with people on the opposite side of the aisle (even the ones I'm tempted to call idiots!).
#FamiliusBooks #NetGalley
It won’t surprise anyone living on this side of the Atlantic, but the political noise coming out of the United States sounds increasingly fascist-adjacent.
When Francis Fukuyama wrote The End of History in 1992, he argued that Western liberal democracy was humanity's final ideological destination. He was wrong. Lately, we've watched authoritarian backsliding sweep through Brazil, Hungary, and the Philippines. Now, the ultimate test has arrived. The US voted twice for a leader intent on dismantling every democratic guardrail in sight. It’s thoroughly entertaining if you view it as an episode of Veep, but the reality is dead serious.
Enter Melissa Dalton-Bradford. Writing from Germany, she is clearly deeply concerned about the democratic recession in her American homeland. In the urgent style of Timothy Snyder and Anne Applebaum, she unpacks eleven tactics that wannabe dictators love to use—like attacking the truth, scapegoating the vulnerable, and corrupting elections. Her historical case studies are sharp, and terrifyingly, one of her primary examples is always the modern United States.
But this isn't just a book of doom and gloom. What struck me most was the author's passionate, grassroots plea for action.
Dalton-Bradford refuses to let us treat politics like a spectator sport. She firmly rejects the idea that we should just sit back and wait for politicians to fix the mess. Instead, she empowers us to grab the reins of democracy ourselves.
While her examples lean heavily on the US, her solutions are universally applicable. I closed this book feeling genuinely optimistic. It is a roadmap for everyday resistance, and I know I’ll keep returning to it—especially for her brilliant, practical advice on how to have productive political conversations with people on the opposite side of the aisle (even the ones I'm tempted to call idiots!).
#FamiliusBooks #NetGalley
Review of advance copy
4.5 stars. A powerful and important book. Dalton-Bradford weaves in historical examples of authoritarianism and puts them alongside practice action steps every day citizens can make.
My only struggle is the order of information. Because she used a wide variety of examples from various countries and governments both modern and in the past, I felt like the book was disjointed. To be fair, she acknowledges this at the beginning. She states that the book can be read in isolated chapters. So I don’t think her goal was to tell a cohesive narrative, but looking back I feel like I can’t identify which examples went with which specific authoritarian action.
My only struggle is the order of information. Because she used a wide variety of examples from various countries and governments both modern and in the past, I felt like the book was disjointed. To be fair, she acknowledges this at the beginning. She states that the book can be read in isolated chapters. So I don’t think her goal was to tell a cohesive narrative, but looking back I feel like I can’t identify which examples went with which specific authoritarian action.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
How to Save Democracy is a clear, urgent response to the growing threat of authoritarianism. Melissa Dalton-Bradford explains how democratic norms are weakened, how fear and disinformation are used to gain power, and what ordinary people can do to push back. I appreciated that the book does not treat the current political moment as an abstract debate. It recognizes that attacks on voting rights, civil liberties, marginalized communities, and the free press have real consequences.
I found the book's defense of pluralism, equality, and civic participation especially meaningful. It offers practical ways to resist authoritarian politics without pretending that respectful dialogue alone will solve everything. The message is ultimately hopeful, but not complacent. Democracy survives only when people are willing to defend it. My sincere thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free advance review copy.
I found the book's defense of pluralism, equality, and civic participation especially meaningful. It offers practical ways to resist authoritarian politics without pretending that respectful dialogue alone will solve everything. The message is ultimately hopeful, but not complacent. Democracy survives only when people are willing to defend it. My sincere thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free advance review copy.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews