The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been characterized by a chaotic rollout of policy changes designed to undermine fundamental rights, circumvent legal and political accountability and scapegoat minority groups for social problems.

We are a country that welcomes dissent. In fact, protecting the right to dissent is one of our founding principles and runs deep in our DNA. Political violence has no place in our system. Americans can, should and do disagree about policy positions, economic issues, religious commitments and so much more. Great leaders recognize and celebrate these differences, using the power of persuasion and compelling policy proposals to build coalitions, listen, learn and develop new ideas.

Instead, we have seen this president threaten to illegally withhold funding from states and institutions that don’t bend to his will. Great leaders understand the rule of law as an inviolable part of a functioning democracy, and work within legal frameworks that would withstand scrutiny by a court. Instead, this is a leader who publicly lies, and brags about retaliating against judges, juries and former staff members and political allies that make decisions or statements he doesn’t like.

In our system, there is no place for “punishment” for ideas or difference of opinion. This president’s continued use of the language and strategy of retaliation reflects nothing more than a schoolyard where the loudest or meanest bully gets to call the shots. But in our system, nobody gets that kind of control. We are each free to express our values, debate our concerns and make our voices heard at the ballot box and in the public square. In America, might does not make right. Kings and emperors were afforded that kind of power, exactly what America was established to oppose.

This president has declared that people he disagrees with and labels “enemies” for their views, identities, citizenship status or policy positions can and should be treated with viciousness and cruelty. He has celebrated the brutal treatment of those he has declared to be outside of his circle of concern. But democracy means that everyone — every single person — counts. And the Constitution guarantees basic civil rights to every person present in this land and regardless of citizenship — including due process, which requires notice, the opportunity to review evidence against you and the chance to plead your case.

As a nonpartisan organization that has never taken government funding, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has fought for civil rights and civil liberties since 1920. Over the last 100 days, the ACLU has filed more than 100 legal actions against the Trump administration. We are just getting started, but we need everyone to get involved.

Our union may never reach perfection, but our system gives us the power to continually improve it. We already have the ideas we need to find solutions to our most challenging problems. Whether you are a Republican, independent, Democrat, Green, or never vote. Whether you are “from away” or grew up speaking French in Madawaska, hauling lobsters in Harrington, or riding horses in Cape Elizabeth.

Read the Bill of Rights. Consider what our system means to you, how you express your freedom, and why it matters. Learn about other countries where autocratic leaders have taken control, and what kinds of resistance have been most effective to support democracy and freedom in those places. No matter who we are, we all want the same things: Health. Safety. Freedom. To know that we matter, and that others care about our well-being.

Engaging all others with respect and dignity — whether you agree or disagree with them — is incredibly difficult, and often extremely unpopular. But the alternative is devastating. It leads to violence, repression, degradation and war. This president took an oath of office requiring fealty to the Constitution 105 days ago. Come what may, our challenge as citizens is to hold him accountable to that oath for the next 1,356.