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Civic_Mobilizations_MainCover_ProtestAgainstSecurityForces
Special Report 2022

How Civic Mobilizations Grow in Authoritarian Contexts

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This report examines what helps and hurts civic mobilizations in authoritarian countries and provides insight on how these mobilizations grow.

Written by
Laura Adams
Natalia Forrat
Zack Medow

Download the report PDF

How Civic Mobilizations Grow in Authoritarian Contexts is a new report from Freedom House that analyzes how civic movements organize and expand in countries governed by authoritarian regimes. 

The report examines 21 recent examples of these movements in authoritarian countries to determine the factors that helped or hindered their growth. These factors include whether these movements are led by new or established opposition members, how mobilization campaigns frame their cause, and the roles played by diasporas, the internet, and repression.

In addition to the larger report, below you will find focused case studies on civic mobilizations in Belarus following their contentious 2020 election, Sudan in 2018-19, Ethiopia in 2015-18, and Vietnam in 2016. 

Civic_Mobilizations_MainCover_ProtestAgainstSecurityForces

Download the report

Download the PDF copy of "How Civic Mobilizations Grow in Authoritarian Contexts" and learn more about how these movements operate within repressive regimes. 

Download PDF

Case Studies

Civic_Mobilizations_Belarus_ElectionProtestBelarus

Belarus: 2020

The 2020 presidential campaign in Belarus and the subsequent protests have shaken many observers’ views of what was possible in the country’s politics. 

Civic Mobilizations: Sudanese Protest

Sudan: 2018-19

In April 2019, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was deposed in a coup d’etat that was preceded by months of pressure from the largest social movement in recent history. 

Civic_Mobilizations_Ethiopia_Protest

Ethiopia: 2015-18

Years of protests led by Oromo youth spread to other areas of the country and resulted in the 2018 resignation of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

Civic_Mobilizations_Vietnam_Formosa_Protest

Vietnam: 2016

In 2016, the government’s response to an environmental disaster triggered the “Formosa protests,” one of Vietnam's largest civic mobilizations in recent decades. 

lifeline advocacy protest

Annotated Bibliography

The bibliography includes select academic sources published in the last two decades that shed light on civic mobilization in authoritarian contexts.

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