Upholding the Rule of Law in a Backsliding Democracy: Taking Stands, Pushing Back, and the Role of the PublicThank you for the honor of speaking with you today.Let me start with the obvious.We are all here because we are deeply concerned about what is happening in our country, which all of us in our own way have fought hard to make live up to its promise of equal justice under law.It is grim.And often seems to go from bad to worse.We are no longer backsliding.We have decisively backslid.And it is clear that the forces of democratic resistance have not risen to meet the scope of the challenge.So what can we do?History teaches that successful social action starts with a clear-eyed understanding of the adversary in front of us.From this foundation, I believe there is power in knowledge about how we got here-in understanding that what may appear as isolated action, ad hoc strategy, or overheated rhetoric is actually none of those things, but rather part of a systematic and deeply researched plan to weaken American institutions. 1And there is power in learning about those who have resisted before, in our own country and elsewhere-and who continue to resist in the face of enormous odds.I start today from the idea that we all have a part to play.Over the past five years, I have tried to do my very modest part by researching the legal and political underpinnings of autocracy, to study its different * Robert Henigson