Our democracy is in danger. Across the world, authoritarianism is on the rise. Four out of five people globally live in countries that are becoming less democratic. Far from being immune to this trend, the United States has been among the world’s most rapidly declining democracies over the past decade. Look no further than Jan. 6, 2021, when a violent insurrection prevented the U.S. from holding a peaceful transfer of power for the first time since the Civil War—and after that, 147 members of Congress attempted to subvert a free and fair election. Since then, an anti-democratic faction has continued to abandon commitment to democracy and is targeting the rules, levers, and nonpartisan officeholders that protect the will of the people.
Protect Democracy is fighting back. Formed in late 2016, Protect Democracy is a nonpartisan, anti-authoritarianism nonprofit that has been called “the most important guard dog of democracy’s red lines.” The group’s experts and advocates use tools like litigation, legislative and communication strategies, technology, and critical research to protect elections, defend the rule of law, combat disinformation, and build the democracy of tomorrow. Informed by advisers who have studied the playbook that modern authoritarians follow, Protect Democracy has assembled a multiphased strategy. Phase One requires preventing the corruption and subversion of future elections. Phase Two requires bolstering our democratic institutions to be more resilient should a future authoritarian gain power. Phase Three involves addressing the structural and cultural factors inflating the political power and appeal of authoritarianism.
Protect Democracy is building toward a thriving democracy for the next generation where elections are free, fair, and trusted; checks and balances guard against authoritarian overreach; facts and honest disagreement, not disinformation, shape public opinion; and the U.S. is back on the path to a free, pluralist, multiracial self-government.
In the United States and around the world, democracies are in retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise.
Protect Democracy uses nonpartisan systems orchestration to create a more resilient and inclusive system of governance in the U.S.
Ian Bassin previously served as associate White House counsel, where in addition to counseling the president and senior White House staff on administrative and constitutional law, his responsibilities included ensuring that White House and executive branch officials complied with the laws, rules, and norms that uphold democracy.
Protect Democracy is building toward a thriving, pluralist, and multiracial democracy for the next generation where elections are free, fair, and trusted.
Prevent American democracy from declining into a more authoritarian form of government and create a secure, multiracial democracy in the United States.
Protect Democracy uses a nonpartisan, multidisciplinary approach, combining urgent responses to fast-moving threats and longer-term reinforcement and betterment of institutional guardrails, to address the root causes that threaten the health and sustainability of American democracy.
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Protect Democracy
Ian Bassin previously served as associate White House counsel, where in addition to counseling the president and senior White House staff on administrative and constitutional law, his responsibilities included ensuring that White House and executive branch officials complied with the laws, rules and norms that protect the fundamentally democratic nature of our government. His writing on democracy, authoritarianism, and American law and politics has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Slate, Salon, and other publications. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.
