Democracy Watch Mission
Combating Threats to Democracy & Human Rights
Human Rights First works to create a just world in which every person's intrinsic human and civil rights are respected and protected.
Read More About Human Rights First
Our Mission
Established in 1978, Human Rights First's mission is to ensure that the United States is a global leader on human rights. We work in the U.S. and abroad to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law. Fulfilling our mission demands assisting victims of injustice, bringing perpetrators of abuse to justice, and building institutions that ensure universal rights.
We seek to engage individuals and institutions across four growing challenges to human rights: resurgent authoritarianism, systemic injustice, the abuse of technology, and Democracy Protection. To address the rise of the anti-democratic movement in the United States, we launched a Democracy Protection Program in 2022 that works to undermine efforts that threaten the rights of individuals, communities, and our nation's goal of a pluralistic democracy. We expose their efforts to leverage, co-opt, and infiltrate legitimate democratic processes, policies, and institutions to mainstream and institutionalize hate. We defend the communities they target, and we hold perpetrators accountable. Human Rights First makes a clear distinction between policies and processes that may be leveraged by the individuals in the movement and the movement itself.
We are facing a national crisis of rising, hate, bigotry, and anti-democratic norms and values that presents a very real threat to our communities, our way of life, our national security, and our democracy. This threat has evolved and become more difficult to counter because it is bolstered by a rising anti-democratic movement. It draws from historic bigoted rhetoric and tactics, and deploys politicians, think tanks, media outlets, and even parents on school boards.
At Human Rights First we refer to it as:
The Anti-Democratic Movement
About the Movement
The movement views immigrants, refugees, Jewish communities, Muslim communities, women, LGBTQ+ communities, Black and Brown communities, Asian American communities, Native Hawaiian and other indigenous communities, Pacific Islander communities, and other diverse groups across the United States as direct and imminent threats. Its goal is to transform the U.S. into an authoritarian society that promotes the dominance of straight, white, Christian men, while dismantling the civil and human rights of all others. To achieve this goal, the movement works to influence policies across all levels of government and to degrade public trust in democratic processes and institutions, from county commissions to Congress. We see this in the growing number of anti-democratic or rights restricting bills introduced and passed throughout our country, steeped in xenophobia, misogyny, bigotry, and racism, along with those that target democratic processes like free and fair elections.
To achieve this goal, the movement works to influence policies across all levels of government and to degrade public trust in democratic processes and institutions, from county commissions to Congress. We see this in the growing number of anti-democratic or rights restricting bills introduced and passed throughout our country, steeped in xenophobia, misogyny, bigotry, and racism, along with those that target democratic processes like free and fair elections.
The bigotry and authoritarian rhetoric we hear in public discourse, often hidden behind dog whistles, is now being institutionalized through policy and legislation from the federal to the local level. We see this when politicians attack so-called “wokeness” to reject curriculum that includes content on race, equity, and America's history of slavery. We see it with efforts to further so-called “parental rights” that attack diversity, equity, and inclusion, promote book bans, and deny transgender children of their rights. We also see this bigotry in false claims of “migrant invasions” and “replacement” – thinly veiled white supremacy and antisemitism – to promote legislation that is anti-immigrant.
Our nation faces a grave threat. If we fail to fully understand and counter the movement's reach and address its influence, it will succeed in rolling back hard-won civil and human rights protections, undermining our elections, dominating our social institutions and system of government, and eroding our democracy.
We see this when politicians attack so-called “wokeness” to reject curriculum that includes content on race, equity, and America's history of slavery. We see it with efforts to further so-called “parental rights” that attack diversity, equity, and inclusion, promote book bans, and deny transgender kids' rights. We also see this bigotry in false claims of “migrant invasions” and “replacement” – a rhetorical veneer for white supremacy and antisemitism – to promote legislation that is anti-immigrant.
Our nation is facing a grave threat. If we fail to fully understand the movement's reach and address its influence, it will succeed in rolling back civil and human rights protections, undermining our elections, dominating our social institutions and system of government, and eroding our democracy.
THE SOLUTION
Tracking the Movement's Legislative Tactics and Influence
Democracy Watch provides a hub for engagement on these legislative and strategic trends and allows the advocates, activists, and experts, policymakers and other elected officials, the media, community leaders, members of the military, members of school boards and educational institutions, students, leaders in tech, and other concerned citizens to understand the threat of this movement based on geolocated trends and timelines. Together we can push back against the movement's efforts to roll back civil and human rights and institutionalize hate and bigotry across the country.
The Data We Track
& How We Categorize It
Legislation
Exposes the types of locations of legislation that are anti-democratic, rights restricting, or the types and location of legislation that is leveraged by the anti-democratic movement throughout the country.
Officials
Officials who have sponsored/co-sponsored legislation that furthers the movement's goals.
Categories
The following categories are umbrella terms for the most common types of antidemocratic legislation:
Legislation that harms individuals based on their gender, gender identity, sex, sexuality, disability, and/or reproductive capacities.
Legislation that harms individuals based on their racial, religious, national, and ethnic groups such as immigrants, refugees, the Jewish community, the Muslim community, Black and Brown communities, the Asian American Pacific Islander communities, and other minority communities across the United States.
Legislation that threatens elections processes, election results, or the institutions that support democratic processes.
Legislation that harms active-duty military, veteran communities, and their families.
Legislation that supports the goals of Project 2025.
Legislation that harms immigrants, migrants, refugees in the United States, including their representation and histories.
Sub-categories
The following sub-categories are umbrella terms for the most common types of antidemocratic legislation within the four categories outlined above:
Legislation that harms Asian American, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander communities in the United States, including their representation and histories. This also includes the Sikh community.
Legislation that harms Black communities in the United States, including their representation and histories.
Legislation that harms the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and broader community of sexual identities and performance in the United States, including their representation and histories.
Legislation that harms Latino, Latina, and LatinX communities in the United States, including their representation and histories.
Legislation that harms Muslim American and Arab American communities in the United States, including their representation and histories.
Legislation that harms Jewish communities in the United States, including their representation and histories.
Legislation that harms diversity, equity, inclusion, and ability initiatives. These initiatives support the representation and provision of equal opportunities for all racial, religious, ethnic, sexual, and gendered demographics.
Legislation that harms educational institutions, educators, and curriculum.
Legislation that harms election processes and outcomes.
Legislation that threatens freedom of the press or media in all of its forms.
Legislation that harms the recording, tracking, or prosecution of hate crimes and hate incidents.
Legislation that threatens access to healthcare and medical services.
Legislation that threatens the autonomy of librarians and staff as well as the public's access to reading and educational material that is representative of all communities.
Legislation that threatens the rights and representation of people based on their gender or sexuality.
Legislation that threatens public accommodations in the public and private sphere.
Legislation that threatens the right to access and attain reproductive health care.
Legislation that threatens voters' rights to equal representation in federal, state, and local elections.
Support Our Mission
The anti-democratic movement threatens the rights and freedom of people in this country. Help us push back to ensure a democracy that is representative of all of its citizens.
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