''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. The book was written in 1993 by

Gene Sharp Gene Sharp (January 21, 1928 – January 28, 2018) was an American political scientist. He was the founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of nonviolent action, and professor of pol ...

(1928-2018), a professor of political science at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

. 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 The Albert Einstein Institution (AEI) is a non-profit organization specializing in the study of the methods of nonviolent resistance in conflict. It was founded by scholar Gene Sharp in 1983, and named after Albert Einstein. Until 2000, the in ...

of Boston, Massachusetts. its current primary English-language edition is the Fourth United States Edition, published in May 2010. The book has been circulated worldwide and cited repeatedly as influencing movements such as the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

of 2010–2012.

Origin

''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 Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

.The 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

websit
HERE.
The book took several months to write as the author drew upon several decades of experience in scholarship on nonviolent action. ''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. 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

Closeup- Kodak Agfa - Egyptian girls against Mubarak

''From Dictatorship to Democracy'' has been circulated worldwide and cited repeatedly as influencing movements such as the

(pictured) in 2011.Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare
Mairi Mackay, CNN, 2012-06-25, accessed 2012-06-25.''Our foreign policy gap''
, Professor Farakh A Khan, '' Daily Times'', 2012-06-01, accessed 2012-06-25.''Do not despair yet about dictators''
David Gardner, '' The Financial Times Limited'', 2012-06-25, accessed 2012-06-25.''Velvet Gloves Over Iron Fists''
Dwight Garner, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 2012-06-10, accessed 2012-06-25. 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." A CNN profile of Sharp in 2012 stated that ''FDTD'' had "spread like a virus," calling it a "viral pamphlet." The book "started life in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

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

." 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." The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', in discussing the prospects for dictators worldwide, described Sharp as "the

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

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.

The BBC reported in 2004 that ''FDTD'' "was used practically as a textbook" in lectures attended by members of

Otpor! Otpor ( sr-Cyrl, Отпор!, en, Resistance!, stylized as Otpor!) was a political organization in Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia) from 1998 until 2004. In its initial period from 1998 to 2000, Otpor began as a civic protest group, eventual ...

, the

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

resistance movement, in the year 2000. 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) ''

'' reported in 2011 that ''From Dictatorship to Democracy'' had been posted by the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( '), is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic studies, Islamic scholar and scho ...

on its website during the

2011 Egyptian revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

. In 2012, ''

'' noted that ''FDTD'' was "available for download in more than two dozen languages" (and provided a link), while describing Sharp as a "leading dvocateof grass-roots democracy." In June 2015, the ''Financial Times'' reported that the Chinese government had tried to buy language rights to ''FDTD'': ''FDTD'' has been reviewed in newspapers. In 2015, 17 activistists were charged for an attempted coup d'état in

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

, and one of the proofs presented was the possession of the book ''FDTD''.

Editions

The book was first published in 1993 in installments in Burmese and English in ''Khit Pyaing'' in

. In 1994, it was issued as a booklet in both languages, with the assistance of the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma.Gene Sharp
A Short History of ''“From Dictatorship to Democracy"''
Excerpted from a letter written by Gene Sharp in response to a student, and downloaded from website of the

. Sharp states that the writing of ''FDTD'' "took four months full time" (p. 1) (accessed 29 June 2012)Copyright page o

(accessed 29 June 2012) 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: * (79 pages) * (93 pages) * (93 pages) * (93 pages) * London: Housmans Bookshop. (93 pages) * (102 pages) * (138 pages) * (prepublication)

References

External links

* Source text:
From Dictatorship to Democracy, A Conceptual Framework for Liberation
' at archive.org
''From Dictatorship to Democracy, A Conceptual Framework for Liberation''
* {{librivox book , title=From Dictatorship to Democracy, author=Sharp
Short history of ''FDTD''
(from Albert Einstein Institution
Short history of ''FDTD''
(from archive.org)
The Albert Einstein Institution
*
How to Start a Revolution
', documentary directed by

Ruaridh Arrow Ruaridh Arrow is a British journalist and film-maker known for his 2011 feature documentary ''How to Start a Revolution'' about Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Gene Sharp. The film was described as an underground hit with the Occupy movement, whic ...

1994 non-fiction books Nonviolence Works by Gene Sharp