(and sexism and homophobia and fear of difference)
In response to my thread on Trump-GOP-Russia love, @barryszuul, says⤵️, like c'mon, we're still not past that?
Here's a roundup of scholarship giving the answer.
In their essay, “Authoritarianism is Not a Momentary Madness, but an Eternal Dynamic within Liberal Democracies,” in ⤵️ @karen_stenner and @JonHaidt offer a psychological explanation.
A person with an “authoritarian disposition” is averse to complexity.
Authoritarians value obedience and conformity over freedom and difference.
Stenner cites studies showing that across all cultures about 33% of the population has an authoritarian disposition.
A normative threat is something that threatens “sameness and order."
When confronted with a normative threat, authoritarians have a strong reaction. They become fearful, angry, and cruel.
Liberal democracy naturally becomes more diverse (for example, by expanding voting rights).
As diversity expands, the conditions arise for a demagogue to stoke their fears.
According to this theory, Trump happened because liberal democracy (diversity) exceeded the capacity of many people to tolerate it.⤵️
Now on to Way #2.
People are amazed that the Trump-GOP keeps breaking laws.
They are breaking the laws they don’t think should exist.
MAGA means take us back to the age of robber barons. See⤵️
White men could get rich by grabbing and taking.
Ever since regulatory agencies were established, people have been trying to get rid of them.
They don’t want regulations.
It's not hard to see why some people don't like those regulations.
Way #3: The Paranoid Style in American Politics
He called their behavior the “paranoid style” in politics.
Those embracing the paranoid style of politics believe that unseen satanic forces are trying to destroy something larger in which they belong.
They “feel dispossessed” . . .
They are “determined to repossess it and prevent the final act of subversion.”
They therefore adopt extreme measures, and will stop at nothing to prevent what they see as an impending calamity.
Way #4: Russia and the spread of 21 century fascism (Putin-style oligarchy)
The following facts are from @TimothyDSnyder and his Youtube series.
So instead of competing in a contest he couldn’t win, Putin set out to make the West like Russia.
Remember Maria Butina?
Russia (according to Snyder) selected America’s president and ran a campaign to get him elected.
Native Americans were here first, and much the nation was built with slave labor.
The drafters of the Constitution argued about slavery . . .
The parties have always distinguished themselves based on their attitudes toward race.
Washington and the Federalists told the frontiersmen to stop taking land from the tribes.
In the 1950s, Eisenhower was reluctant to send troops to desegregate schools.
In the 1960s, JFK was not reluctant.
Graham was confused about why this is the case⤵️
Way #6: Reactionary Politics: Reactionaries (the far right wing) yearn to go backwards to a bygone era which they imagined was better and more orderly.
The word “Again” in “Make America Great Again” signals a reactionary slogan.
Do they want to go back before the 1950s (Jim Crow) or before 1863, or all the way back to the 1789?
Whichever you pick wasn't good for minorities or women.
Hahl, Kim, & Sivan, in “The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue,” discuss a “a crisis of legitimacy” explain that a “crisis of legitimacy” happens when people don’t think the government governs on their behalf.
The article here: asanet.org/sites/default/…
From Yale Prof. @jasonintrator, those on the far right end of the political spectrum believe nature favors a hierarchy.
In the words of Harvard Profs. Levitsky and Ziblatt “Ethnic majorities do not give up their dominant status without a fight” ⤵️
Their analysis backs this up.
Their article is here:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…
A good summary is here:
criticalsociology.org/the-anger-game…
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(I may add comments or questions)