Could a Civil Uprising Unseat an Illegitimate Government in the U.S.?

Let’s say the nightmare scenario happens. What options do citizens have?

David Dennis, Jr.
LEVEL

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Photo: NurPhoto/Getty Images

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the idea of Election Day giving way to “election season,” that record-breaking early voting numbers have permanently shifted the way we think about the process. That may be, but Election Day this year matters for a very specific reason: We’re less than a week away from the most volatile political moment America has seen since the Civil War.

I mean that literally. There’s a greater than zero chance that democracy itself crumbles under an autocratic regime takeover. That after 242 years, a certain someone is either going to steal the election or simply decide they’re not going anywhere.

The possibility of a government that somehow becomes even more draconian and repressive than what we’ve lived under for the past four years is more than just unsettling — it’s enough of a threat to have everyday citizens wondering what resistance will look like.

We’ve all heard theories about nonviolent grassroots uprisings, and what they could do to an illegitimate…

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David Dennis, Jr.
LEVEL

Level Sr. Writer covering Race, Culture, Politics, TV, Music. Previously: The Undefeated, The Atlantic, Washington Post. Forthcoming book: The Movement Made Us