There is a two part answer.
(1) Over the past few decades, the GOP morphed from a conservative party into a reactionary party.
(2) Trump created (and fanned the flames) of what political psychologist @JonHaidt and @karen_stenner call an Authoritarian Dynamic.
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(1) Over the past few decades, the GOP morphed from a conservative party into a reactionary party.
(2) Trump created (and fanned the flames) of what political psychologist @JonHaidt and @karen_stenner call an Authoritarian Dynamic.
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Their article first appeared in this book 👇and is available here: docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/02ff25_370…
About a third of the population have what these psychologists call an authoritarian disposition.
Conservatives are averse to change. They prefer stability & status quo.
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About a third of the population have what these psychologists call an authoritarian disposition.
Conservatives are averse to change. They prefer stability & status quo.
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Those with an authoritarian disposition, on the other hand, are averse to complexity (which includes diversity).
Those with authoritarian dispositions prefer sameness and uniformity and have “cognitive limitations.” They’re “simpleminded avoiders of complexity.”
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Those with authoritarian dispositions prefer sameness and uniformity and have “cognitive limitations.” They’re “simpleminded avoiders of complexity.”
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They have a “bias against different others (racial and ethnic outgroups, immigrants)
A normative threat is something that threatens “sameness and order.”
When confronted with a normative threat, those with an authoritarian disposition have a strong reaction.
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A normative threat is something that threatens “sameness and order.”
When confronted with a normative threat, those with an authoritarian disposition have a strong reaction.
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They become fearful and angry. They can be violent & tolerate violence in others. Fear of immigrants is discomfort with people who are different.
Trump governs by creating normative threats.
He deliberately keeps the authoritarians riled.
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Trump governs by creating normative threats.
He deliberately keeps the authoritarians riled.
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That's why he is accusing China of unleashing the virus as a bioweapon.
Most of us roll our eyes. His base gets riled. They think he's the strongman trying to protect him while the media and Democrats (defined as anyone who opposes Trump) are trying to hamstring him.
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Most of us roll our eyes. His base gets riled. They think he's the strongman trying to protect him while the media and Democrats (defined as anyone who opposes Trump) are trying to hamstring him.
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Q: Why doesn’t Trump try to expand his base.
A: The only way would be to stop creating normative threats, and he can’t stop. He needs to keep his base riled.
He knows if he keeps his 33% stirred to anger and fury, he has a lot of power.
See 👇
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A: The only way would be to stop creating normative threats, and he can’t stop. He needs to keep his base riled.
He knows if he keeps his 33% stirred to anger and fury, he has a lot of power.
See 👇
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The demographics of the two parties have been slowly shifting for decades.
Before the Democrats embraced civil rights, the white South was Democratic.
So was the KKK and other white supremacists.
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Before the Democrats embraced civil rights, the white South was Democratic.
So was the KKK and other white supremacists.
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After the Civil Rights movement, Libertarians, the KKK, and Birchers (white evangelicals) found themselves with a common goal: Dismantle the federal government.
The GOP welcomed them all. To expand its base & bring the white South into the GOP. . .
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The GOP welcomed them all. To expand its base & bring the white South into the GOP. . .
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The GOP devised the Southern Strategy. Nixon talked about being “tough on crime” (code for putting black men in jail). Reagan talked about “welfare queens.
What happened next in a nutshell: The authoritarians grew increasingly powerful & took over the party.
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What happened next in a nutshell: The authoritarians grew increasingly powerful & took over the party.
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If you invite authoritarians into your party, eventually they'll do what authoritarians do: They'll take over.
So two things happened at once:
🔹The GOP morphed into a right wing authoritarian party
🔹Trump creates normative threats to keep them riled.
And here we are.
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So two things happened at once:
🔹The GOP morphed into a right wing authoritarian party
🔹Trump creates normative threats to keep them riled.
And here we are.
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If you want to read more about the history of the parties, see 👇
I did the research while writing my Making of America series.
Or see @KevinMKruse, who knows more about it than I do.
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I did the research while writing my Making of America series.
Or see @KevinMKruse, who knows more about it than I do.
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Here is this thread as a blog post: terikanefield-blog.com/the-gop-explai…
