When Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1999, Venezuela was one of the most long-lasting democracies in Latin America. Few would have anticipated the events to come. Once in office, Chavez leveraged a populist message to slowly dismantle Venezuela’s democratic institutions, imprisoning opponents, subtly manipulating elections in his favor, and clamping down on what was once a vibrant media.
It is for these reasons that experts on authoritarian politics sounded the alarm bell when then-US presidential candidate Donald Trump—running on an anti-establishment, populist platform—promised, if he won, to imprison opponent Hillary Clinton and take action against media companies he deemed unfair. Such concerns escalated when Trump refused to guarantee that he would respect the results of the election if he lost.
Though we often assume that long-established democracies, such as the United States, are invulnerable to autocratic rule, the empirical record suggests otherwise. According to Dr. Erica Frantz, a political science professor at Michigan State University and expert on authoritarian politics, “Since the end of the Cold War, we are seeing a lot of cases where you have a democratically elected leader who slowly chips away at democratic institutions and ‘autocratizes’ their own regime. Around the world, these subtle takeovers by authoritarians are replacing more overt and forceful takeovers like coups.” Frantz adds that often, these leaders come to power championing a populist message, whether to the right or the left.
The reason that this relates so importantly to charitable giving is that a strong civil society, much more so than elections, is what preserves democracy. Elections occur in many places that are or become authoritarian. A robust set of civic institutions do not!
Research indicates several key ways in which democratic institutions erode in populist-fueled, democratic backsliding:
- Key opponents are imprisoned
- Specific media outlets are targeted
- Political parties weaken or are splintered
- Checks and balances on the executive branch decrease
- Civil liberties (e.g., voting rights) are restricted
In recent years, developments such as these have occurred in Turkey, Russia, and Bangladesh. Experts on authoritarian politics warn that they could very well occur in the United States, particularly because President-Elect Trump has directly supported or referenced each one (as linked above).
Fortunately, through your charitable giving, you can try to prevent this from happening. In fact, many people have already exercised their personal views publicly through charitable donations. You can give donations to the pillars of our democracy, such as nonprofits that protect our rights, regardless of your place on the conservative-progressive political spectrum. Here are four core areas that urgently need support. They would benefit from a philanthropic “Big Bet” if you have the means, or small gifts from many concerned people:
- Protect voting rights: Even before President-Elect Trump won the election, voting rights were being attacked. Fourteen states had new, restrictive voting laws in place for 2016 (often under the guise of reducing unsubstantiated voter fraud). Support watchdogs and litigators like the Brennan Center for Justice and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to protect voting (and other civil) rights for all Americans.
- Protect other civil rights and fight hate crimes: You do not need to look far to see examples of other civil liberties eroding or of hate crimes and violence (generally directed at minority groups, sometimes even directed at Trump supporters). Supporting the Anti-Defamation League, Southern Poverty Law Center, National Rifle Association, the Institute for Justice, or the American Civil Liberties Union can help ensure that these rights are protected and that these violations are monitored, tracked, and prosecuted. George Soros recently stepped up with a $10 million commitment to fight hate crimes.
- Protect our free and independent press: Subscribe to and read newspapers and magazines with quality investigative reporting or Longform.org, which will curate them for you. Two donors, Herb and Marion Sandler, were so concerned about this issue that they made a big bet to start ProPublica, which is a nonprofit supporting journalism in the public interest. You can support it, too. Lastly, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press defends journalists and our First Amendment.
- Protect especially vulnerable groups: Civil liberties matter for all Americans, regardless of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. Certain groups are especially vulnerable following this election. To support them, consider the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Human Rights Campaign, or the National Women’s Law Center.
Philanthropy, in the form of both big and small gifts, has a long history of influencing the course of our nation. As Karl Zinmeister of the Philanthropy Roundtable recently wrote, “Despots hate philanthropy; they want the state to be the only forum for human influence and control. ‘Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state,’ was Mussolini’s encapsulation.” With some smart philanthropy this giving season, perhaps donors can both protect the core of our democracy and the right to keep giving and protecting in the future.
