How to Stop a Backsliding Democracy In Its Tracks (and Engineer a Reverse Course): Lessons Learned and What We Need to Do Next

Erica Chenoweth

Political Scientist, Harvard

Erica Chenoweth is a political scientist at Harvard. They have authored or edited nine other books and dozens of articles on mass movements, nonviolent resistance, terrorism, political violence, revolutions, and state repression, including Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know (2021) and On Revolutions (2022). Chenoweth’s current book project, The End of People Power, investigates the puzzling decline in the success of civil resistance movements in the past decade, even as the technique has become more popular worldwide. Along with Zoe Marks, Chenoweth is also the author of the forthcoming book Bread and Roses: Women on the Frontlines of Revolution, which explores how women's participation impacts mass movements. Read more.

Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould

National Political Director, Faith in Action

The Reverend Dr. Cassandra Gould is a pastor and an activist whose ministry and community work is rooted in the biblical mandate for justice. She is the Executive Director of Missouri Faith Voices and the pastor of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church in Jefferson City, MO.  She is a proud native of Demopolis, Alabama. She is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her undergraduate work includes psychology and journalism. She is an alumna of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and Columbia College. Reverend Dr. Gould holds a M.Div from Eden Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary. 

Ivan Marovic

Executive Director, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict

Ivan Marovic is Executive Director of ICNC. He was one of the leaders of Otpor, the student resistance movement that played an important role in the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia. After the successful democratic transition in Serbia, Marovic began consulting with various prodemocracy groups worldwide and became one of the leading practitioners in the field of strategic nonviolent conflict. He is the author of The Path of Most Resistance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Nonviolent Campaigns (ICNC Press 2018), which is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan.