On this day when millions will gather to celebrate No Kings Day and mark the great American tradition of rejecting arbitrary and tyrannical rule, we highlight historian Rutger Bregman’s six lessons from history on how to stop an authoritarian takeover:

1) Build a broad pro-democracy coalition. No purity politics. Learn to work with people who annoy you. You can go back to dunking on them after democracy is safe.

2) Draft a positive, optimistic agenda. So not just: ‘our institutions must hold!’ Successful movements framed democracy as freedom, dignity, equality.

3) Target blatant corruption and cronyism as rallying issues. This is the soft underbelly of autocrats. Citizens across the political spectrum appreciate a vigorous anti-corruption agenda.

4) Get things done: when governments fail to deliver, people become more open to authoritarian alternatives. Good governance is democratic defense.

5) Never, ever normalize extremists. Never legitimize actors who reject the basis rules of democracy — not for votes, not for “balance.” Build a firewall around the enemies of democracy.

6) Take your protests to the streets, under two conditions:

• (a) Keep it peaceful. Violence is a gift to authoritarians.
• (b) Unite around specific, democracy-related demands.