How Ian Bassin built Protect Democracy across political divides

Executive overview

American democracy rests on unwritten rules — traditions passed down in binders, not law books. When those norms are threatened, insider knowledge of how government actually works becomes the sharpest defensive tool.

Ian Bassin, former White House counsel lawyer, co-founded Protect Democracy in 2017 to prevent authoritarian drift. Drawing on lessons from three organizations and a public demotion, he built a 100-person remote nonprofit that unites staffers from across the political spectrum.

The core insight: you can build durable coalitions across political divides by focusing exclusively on the foundational values everyone already shares.

From binders to organization

• White House ethics rules were not law — they were customs, passed between administrations in physical binders.
• Bassin carried his binders into the Obama administration on January 20, 2009; they became his operating bible for three years.
• Rules were consistent across Democratic and Republican administrations; counsel alumni from Bush and Clinton eras were called for guidance.
• After the 2016 election, Bassin feared the incoming administration would discard these norms entirely.
• He requested his binders back from the White House; was told to file a FOIA request — estimated processing time: 20 years.
• The absurdity clarified why the ad-hoc handoff existed: some things cannot be codified without becoming vulnerable.

The culture lesson: two nonprofits, one A/B test

• At Avaaz, Bassin observed a leader who built intentional culture from day one — tested in hiring, embedded in onboarding, injected into every meeting.
• As Avaaz scaled, the DNA replicated: any room, any meeting, the approach to problems carried the same core principles.
• At a subsequent nonprofit, culture existed on the website but not in practice — staff couldn't name the values, let alone invoke them with colleagues.
• This direct comparison proved the difference: values stated are not values held.

The founding of Protect Democracy

• Bassin broke his foot kicking a box on election night 2016 — the box was not empty.
• A cold email from former White House counsel colleague Justin Florence the next morning asked: should we do something?
• Their comparative advantage: having been inside government, they understood how outside actors could influence inside actors.
• Early weeks passed with paralysis — broken foot, first child due in two months, a good existing job.
• A call from former colleagues Karen Dunn and Blake Roberts reported that a Washington meeting of senior lawyers had named Bassin as the right person to lead a new organization.
• That external validation rebuilt confidence after a recent, very public demotion.

The seat-at-the-table lesson

• As a junior White House lawyer, Bassin defaulted to the back of the room; colleagues who sat at the table were treated as if they ran it.
• Lesson: people treat you the way you act — not the same as overconfidence, but presence signals ownership.
• On the founding call, Bassin told himself: sit at the head, listen, but definitely lead.

Getting off the ground

• No one knows the right way to build a nonprofit; Bassin Googled "how to build a nonprofit budget."
• Reid Hoffman provided seed funding on a venture logic: strong talent, important outcome, go.
• First-mover advantage: Protect Democracy reached alarmed donors, talent, and media before similar organizations launched months later.
• Key advice from Bre Pettis (3D printing pioneer): send investors a candid 10-minute update every three weeks — what's going well, what you're worried about, what help you need.
• Eight years later, Protect Democracy still sends that note; the result is partners who are actively involved, not passive check-writers.

Building remote before it was normal

• Protect Democracy launched as fully distributed in 2017, three years before COVID forced the issue.
• Rationale: distributed teams can be more intentional about culture; no one interrupts a colleague's flow without consent.
• Staff spread across ~26 states — essential for an American democracy organization that needs perspective from across the country.
• No headquarters. A named HQ creates a two-tier organization; remote staff feel second-class. Full distribution requires no locus.
• In-person off-sites multiple times a year — not for OKRs, but for deep relationship-building that video cannot replicate.

Replacing the interstitial moments

• After-action sessions at the midpoint and end of every project: what worked, what didn't, what lessons apply elsewhere — shared with the full team.
• Every meeting opens with a state-of-mind check: a scale from negative three to positive three, with a brief reason. Signals to colleagues who may need follow-up.
• Both practices replace the organic office moments that distributed teams lose.

Uniting people across political divides

• Protect Democracy staff have worked for figures ranging from Elizabeth Warren to Ted Cruz and Jim DeMint.
• The mission is narrow enough to be unifying: free and fair elections, peaceful transfer of power, protection of eligible voters — majorities of Americans agree on these regardless of party.
• The organization is not asked to agree on policy; only on the foundational conditions that make democratic disagreement possible.

Coopetition in the nonprofit sector

• Bassin coined coopetition to describe the nonprofit dynamic: share innovative strategies with the sector (because the mission is shared), but maintain competition for donors, talent, and media (because competition drives innovation).
• Collapsing all similar nonprofits into one entity would eliminate competition and reduce the quality of the overall effort.

Leading through pessimism: the 2% principle

• In fall 2020, Bassin privately assessed the odds of a good democratic outcome at 49% — tipping into pessimism.
• A mentor reframed it: do you believe you and your team have the agency to add 2% and tip it to 51%?
• If yes, lead from there.
• Authoritarianism thrives on hopelessness; democratic agency — what Tocqueville called "habits of the heart" — is itself a counterforce.
• Ultimate goal for the organization: put itself out of business by succeeding at its mission.