Summary
3: Beware the one-party state.
The one-party states that came to power in Europe did so because they “exploited a historical moment to make political life impossible for their opponents” (27). The threat to democracy doesn’t come from the outside; it comes from Americans within who want to exploit freedom. The democratic systems in Europe were transformed from within, a tyranny-leaning party sometimes celebrating a favorable election result or disputing an unfavorable one. Citizens were distracted, imprisoned, outmatched. They could not have known when they were voting that they were voting for democracy for the last time, but that moment did come for them.
In America, our system was not meant to “celebrate our imaginary perfection” (29) but to “mitigate the consequences of our real imperfections” (29). And those imperfections are obvious—we have an increasing problem with oligarchy and a less popular party suppressing voting and proclaiming fraud when it loses. We don’t know when we will vote for democracy for the last time, but that does depend on us. We must insist that one person=one vote, that we use paper ballots that can’t be tampered with, that we remove private funding for public campaigns, that we take our own Constitution seriously and not let oath breakers run for office.
4: Take responsibility for the face of the world.
In this chapter Snyder argues that the symbols people use are powerful, that in “the politics of the everyday, our words and gestures, or their absences, count very much” (33). He gives an example of how in the Soviet Union wealthy farmers were portrayed as pigs on propaganda posters, which made peasants happy, but then those peasants in turn had their own land taken from them. He also accounts for Nazi usage of symbols such as the swastika and the Star of David to promote ideology and label people.
His advice is that if we are offered an opportunity to display a symbol of loyalty, we consider if they include our fellow citizens or exclude them. Displaying any slogans or symbols, even if we don’t actually believe them, can further tyranny.
5: Remember professional ethics.
We need lawyers and judges that will stand up for democracy, since history shows us authoritarian governments can use civil servants and concentration camp directors need businessmen who want cheap labor.
With that stark opening, Snyder explains how Hitler used lawyers in the task forces to carry out what he wanted, as they could claim that the law supported it. Businessmen were also crucial in that they exploited concentration camp labor, and doctors undertook medical experiments on the imprisoned. Knowing these historical precedents, Snyder says it is important for professionals to “create forms of ethical conversation that are impossible between a lonely individual and a distant government” (40). Professionals can bind together and follow professional ethics. They can push back against “just following orders” (41).
6: Be wary of paramilitaries.
Violence is an important component of tyrannical takeovers. The people who wish to undermine can fund violent groups that involve themselves in politics, such as bodyguards for politicians or citizens’ initiatives that were not-so-secretly organized by a party or leader. These groups first “degrade a political order, and then transform it” (43).
Snyder provides several historical examples, such as the SS taking what it did in running the concentration camps to governing itself, and the SA in Austria taking the lead on persecuting the Jews. He explains that violence in the United States is already privatized, and gives the example of a private security detail hired by Trump to kick non-supporters out of campaign rallies and incite the crowd against them. He then incited them to attack the Capital, which, if successful, would have ended our democracy. We must be careful that the “emotions of rallies and insurrections and the ideology of exclusion” (46) are not incorporated into armed guards, who then challenge police and military, penetrate them, and then transform them.
Analysis
In the third lesson, Snyder says to beware of the one-party state. He provides examples of how European leaders such as Hitler and Stalin managed to eliminate their opposition, and insinuates how easy it would be for this to happen in America as well. Indeed, in 2025 the Democratic Party is fractured and frenzied, unsure how to respond to the threat that they see in Donald Trump, his cabinet cronies, his DOGE goons, sycophantic Republicans, and Americans who support them or who don’t pay attention to politics at all. Trump has put forth plans to control the outcome of elections, such as requiring proof of citizenship for voting, which would further erode the “loyal opposition party.” There is work that we can do at the state and local levels; it is imperative because “Any future elections will be a test of American traditions” (31).
The fourth lesson focuses on the symbols we employ, because the “politics of the everyday” matters. Our minor choices “are themselves a kind of vote, making it more or less likely that free and fair elections will be held in the future” (33). Richard J. Evans writes of this lesson that it means, “in other words, be sceptical about propaganda. This lesson is essentially the same as various others he suggests: ‘be kind to our language’, ‘believe in truth’, 'investigate’, 'listen for dangerous words.’ And indeed when Trump brands any criticism as ‘fake news’ and proclaims blatant untruths as facts, we have entered the era of ‘post-truth’ and ‘alternative facts.' No wonder sales of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four have surged in the US. We certainly need to be persistent and unyielding in nailing politicians’ lies…”
In the fifth, Snyder offers chilling examples of professions that capitulated to the Nazis, such as doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. These professions are liable to do similar things, and some of them seem to be doing so already. Trump is currently attacking the legal system by going after major law firms, and is also targeting colleges and universities for their use of DEI, allowance of pro-Palestine protests, and for anything they deem a threat (i.e., Columbia’s Middle Eastern Studies department). He calls for members of professions not to “confuse their specific ethics with the emotions of the moment” (41) because they “may find themselves saying and doing things that they previously might have found unthinkable” (41).
In the sixth lesson, Snyder warns about paramilitaries. It might be easy to think they’re confined to Europe until one considers the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. An Atlantic article written by Franklin Foer from January 2025 writes of Trump’s actions on the second day of his presidency: “With his signature, Trump freed Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, and Enrique Tarrio, the head of the Proud Boys, from prison. Using his most expansive presidential powers, Trump resurrected these moribund organizations. Perhaps some members of these groups will never return, having been chastened by their brush with the raw end of federal power. But by excusing their most egregious offense, Trump has effectively legalized their presence—and validated the most ominous worries about his symbiotic relationship with them.” Foer continues, noting that “Trump’s devotion to the paramilitaries—and to the destruction of their common enemies—binds them tightly together” and “This relationship raises questions: What happens the next time Trump explicitly announces that one of his enemies deserves to die? What if Trump describes a group as a threat to his own security or to the American way of life? How will these militias respond?”
He concludes, “Donald Trump didn’t just grant clemency to individuals; he exonerated their method, which substitutes fists and guns for persuasion and argument. These groups seek to impose their will on society through force. That is the very nature of paramilitary organizations, which mimic trappings of the police and army in order to become unaccountable, private versions of them, forces loyal not to a constitution but to a strongman. They are antidemocratic entities in service of antidemocratic ends. Now those entities and their approach have the blessing, and perhaps even the patronage, of the president of the United States.”
