Thread by @pleasesaveour

nationwide survey showing a striking desire for strong authoritarian leadership among Republican voters.

They also find shockingly high levels of anti-democratic beliefs and prejudicial attitudes among Trump backers
washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…

And regardless of what happens in 2020 Trump supporters will be a potent pro-authoritarian voting bloc in the years to come.

The authors define authoritarianism as what happens “when followers submit too much to the authorities in their lives.” They measure it using a tool Altemeyer developed in the early 1980s, called the right-wing authoritarian (RWA) scale.
monmouth.edu/polling-instit…

The “right-wing” label refers not to left and right political leanings as they’re popularly understood today but rather to a more legalistic sense of “lawful, proper, and correct.” It’s used to identify authoritarian tendencies among people of any political persuasion

The scale measures respondents’ agreement or disagreement with 20 statements, such as: “Our country desperately needs a mighty leader who will do what has to be done to destroy the radical new ways and sinfulness that are ruining us” and

“It is always better to trust the judgment of the proper authorities in government and religion than to listen to the noisy rabble-rousers in our society who are trying to create doubt in people’s minds.”

For each statement, a respondent can select an answer on a sliding scale ranging from 1 (total disagreement) to 9 (total agreement). The final score on the 20-question survey ranges from 20 (total opposition to authoritarianism) to 180 (total support).

They enlisted help Monmouth Univ to pose these questions to 990 American voters in fall 2019. They asked participants to answer the questions on the RWA scale, as well as some separate measures of authoritarian beliefs and prejudice toward minority groups
monmouth.edu/polling-instit…

The stronger a person supported Trump, the higher he or she scored. People saying they strongly disapproved of Trump had an average RWA score of 54. Those indicating complete support, had an average score of 119, more than twice as authoritarian as Trump opponents.

Many fervent Trump supporters, Altemeyer and Dean write, “are submissive, fearful, and longing for a mighty leader who will protect them from life’s threats. They divide the world into friend and foe, with the latter greatly outnumbering the former.”

Trump’s personal authoritarian bona fides are well-established with experts warning that his attacks on basic dem principles present a clear danger to the American pol system. But his beliefs and actions r toothless without the support of M's of followers
npr.org/2020/09/06/910…

Vanderbilt political scientist Larry Bartels, for instance, recently used YouGov survey data to find that many Republican voters hold strong authoritarian and anti-democratic beliefs, with racism being a key driver of those attitudes
pnas.org/content/117/37…

Researchers have also consistently found that separate measures of authoritarian belief, such as a short survey of attitudes toward child-rearing, are reliable predictors of Trump support.

vox.com/2016/3/1/11127…

washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2…

Not all of the president’s supporters fall into the “authoritarian” category, however. Just the extreme, mindless base.

Many express extremely authoritarian viewpoints. Roughly 1/2 of Trump supporters agreed with the statement: “Once our government leaders and the authorities

condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within,” which Altemeyer and Dean characterize as “practically a Nazi cheer.”

Among people who disapproved of Trump, just 12 percent agreed with that statement

“Trump’s supporters are much more inclined to stomp out the people they dislike than Trump’s opponents are. This reflects the authoritarian aggression that is a central part of the RWA personality”

One common criticism of the RWA scale is that it could simply be a proxy for generic conservative or religious beliefs. Murray tested this idea by running the scale without questions touching on religious identity and sexual norms.
monmouth.edu/polling-instit…

He found the different versions of the scale produced findings that were nearly identical to the original 20-question battery, suggesting the scale is measuring a distinct psychological attribute that can’t be explained away by religiosity or political ideology.

Contemporary discussions on authoritarian backsliding in the United States tend to focus on Trump and his allies in Congress. But Altemeyer and Dean’s work is a reminder that his followers will remain a potent force in American politics for years to come
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@threadreaderapp roll up please