From Dictatorship to Democracy, A Conceptual Framework for Liberation is a book-length essay on the generic problem of how to destroy a dictatorship and to prevent the rise of a new one.[1] The book was written in 1993 by
Gene Sharp (1928–2018), a professor of political science at the
University of Massachusetts. The book has been published in many countries worldwide and translated into more than 30 languages. Editions in many languages are also published by the
Albert Einstein Institution of Boston, Massachusetts. As of 2012[update] its current primary English-language edition is the Fourth United States Edition, published in May 2010.[2]
The book has been circulated worldwide and cited repeatedly as influencing movements such as the
Arab Spring of 2010–2012.[3][4][5][6]
From Dictatorship to Democracy (FDTD) was written in 1993 at the request of a prominent exiled
Burmese democrat, Tin Maung Win, who was then editor of Khit Pyaing (The New Era Journal), in
Bangkok,
Thailand.[7]: 87–8 The book took several months to write as the author drew upon several decades of experience in scholarship on nonviolent action.[7]: 87 [8]FDTD was first published in 1993 as installments in
Burmese and English in Khit Pyaing. In 1994, it was issued as a booklet in both English and Burmese.[7]: 88 Since that time, there have been several additional English-language editions and translations into more than 30 additional languages.
Topics covered
From Dictatorship to Democracy contains a preface and ten sections. Its first appendix includes 198 Methods Of Nonviolent Action that were taken from Gene Sharp's The Politics of Nonviolent Action (1973), Part Two, The Methods of Nonviolent Action. The main sections of the 4th US edition are entitled:
1. Facing Dictatorships Realistically
2. The Dangers of Negotiations
3. Whence Comes the Power?
4. Dictatorships Have Weaknesses
5. Exercising Power
6. The Need for Strategic Planning
7. Planning Strategy
8. Applying Political Defiance
9. Disintegrating the Dictatorship
10. Groundwork for Durable Democracy
Three appendices are included in the fourth US edition of FDTD:
Appendix 1. The Methods of Nonviolent Action
Appendix 2. Acknowledgements and Notes on the History of From Dictatorship to Democracy
Appendix 3. A Note About Translations and Reprinting of this Publication
For Further Reading
Appendix 3 gives a step-by-step procedure for effectively translating FDTD into other languages.
Influence
From Dictatorship to Democracy has been circulated worldwide and cited repeatedly as influencing movements such as the
Arab Spring (pictured) in 2011.[3][4][5][6] Sharp has stated that after FDTD was first written, "although no efforts were made to promote the publication for use in other countries, translations and distribution of the publication began to spread on their own.... We usually do not know how awareness of this publication has spread from country to country."[7]: 88–9
A
CNN profile of Sharp in 2012 stated that FDTD had "spread like a virus," calling it a "viral pamphlet."[3] The book "started life in
Myanmar as incendiary advice printed on a few sheets of paper and surreptitiously exchanged by activists living under a military dictatorship." Later it "took on a life of its own... eventually, some say, inspiring the uprisings known as the
Arab Spring."[3]
The Pakistani Daily Times stated that FDTD "has had an impact on the Arabic-speaking world even though the setting is in a non-Arabic world."[4]
Non-English Editions From Dictatorship to Democracy
The Financial Times, in discussing the prospects for dictators worldwide, described Sharp as "the
Lenin of the new
Gandhi-ism" stating that
What is new... is the wildfire spread of systematically non-violent insurgency. This owes a great deal to the strategic thinking of Gene Sharp, an American academic whose how-to-topple-your-tyrant manual, From Dictatorship to Democracy, is the bible of activists from Belgrade to Rangoon.[5]
The
BBC reported in 2004 that FDTD "was used practically as a textbook" in lectures attended by members of
Otpor!, the
Serbian resistance movement, in the year 2000.[38]
In 2012, The New York Times noted that FDTD was "available for download in more than two dozen languages" (and provided a link), while describing Sharp as a "leading [advocate] of grass-roots democracy."[6]
In June 2015, the Financial Times reported that the Chinese government had tried to buy language rights to FDTD:[40]
In 2015, 17 activistists were charged for an attempted coup d'état in
Angola, and one of the proofs presented was the possession of the book FDTD.[42]
Editions
The book was first published in 1993 in installments in
Burmese and English in Khit Pyaing in
Bangkok,
Thailand. In 1994, it was issued as a booklet in both languages, with the
assistance of the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma.[7][8][43] Since that time, there have been several additional English-language editions. There have also been editions in at least 30 other languages (see table at right). The English-language editions include:
Sharp, Gene (1994). From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation (1st English language ed.).
Bangkok, Thailand: Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma.
OCLC35447780. (79 pages)
Sharp, Gene (2003). From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation (2nd ed.). Boston, MA:
Albert Einstein Institution. (93 pages)
Sharp, Gene (2012). From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation (4th English ed.). Melbourne (Parkville), Australia: Custom Book Centre.
ISBN9781921775369. (102 pages)
^
abcdeThe history of FDTD is discussed at length in Appendix 2 of the 4th US edition of FDTD, "Acknowledgements and Notes on the History of From Dictatorship to Democracy" (pp. 87–90), available for download at the
Albert Einstein Institution website
HERE.Archived 2012-06-21 at the
Wayback Machine
^BBC (29 November 2004). "Role of Serbian Resistance movement in Ukrainian protests detailed". Excerpt from report by Jelena Tusup: "Ukrainian 'resistance' According to Serbian recipe" by Serbian newspaper Blic on 28 November (accessed 30 June 2012)