Government can only function with the co-operation or at least the compliance of the population. Compliance may be secured by the threat or use of force, but excessive repression can erode a regime's authority, lead to economic stagnation, and provoke rebellion, and possibly the imposition of international sanctions. Eventually a repressive regime may forfeit the support of its power base and the loyalty of the army, police and civil service. It will then no longer have the means to enforce compliance. Civil resistance employs strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience and so forth to undermine the opponents' authority and sources of power. It may have the revolutionary aim of overthrowing a regime or the more limited objective of securing reform. It has been used to overthrow colonial rule and repressive regimes, and to resist occupation and military coups. It has been used, too, in parliamentary democracies in struggles for civil rights, opposing preparations for nuclear war and other goals. Civil resistance took on a new dimension with the coming of industrialisation in the l9th century. Today, due to the communicationst revolution, the expansion of further education and the integration of the global economy, its potential has again increased exponentially as the 'People Power' successes of the 1980s and l990s have demonstrated. It could play a crucial role in establishing and consolidating democratic societies, and defending them against internal and external threats. It could also figure in preparations for national defence as a substitute for, or complement to, military preparations.