Home › Forums › Politics › Book review on Daily KOS:Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics
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June 6, 2010 at 2:51 pm #595079
KenParticipantcredit: Dr. Greg Dworkin (DemfromCt)
For those who are interested in the role authoritarianism plays in political party alignment.
Dems should read it of course since detail and empirical data have weight in the decision making process, Repubs might read it but probably not since the compartment where doubt can take hold is usually locked tight and guarded by authoritarian religion, fear and tribalism.
Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics
Marc J. Hetherington, Jonathan D. Weiler
Cambridge University Press
Paperback, 234 pages, $23.16
Kindle edition 9.99
August, 2009
Author interview excerpt:
Daily Kos: Your book is about authoritarianism, not so much in the persona of a particular candidate but rather in the worldview of the voting constituents. You also distinguish between authoritarianism and conservatism and note it can cut across parties in surprising ways, leading to significant polarization. Have you an easy definition of what you mean by authoritarianism?”
Jonathan D. Weiler: Most succinctly, we mean by authoritarianism a tendency to see the world in simple, clear, black and white terms in support of a social order that prefers sameness and uniformity over diversity and difference. It also tends to prefer the concreteness of military conflict over the subtleties of diplomacy. A tendency to disdain complexity and nuance and to evince intolerance of outgroups are typical (though, of course not universal) features of authoritarian-minded individuals.
The polarization we’ve argued is now under way is a product of the degree to which this particular worldview, once broadly distributed between the parties, has now increasingly found a home in one party, the Republican Party. And to emphasize, we also identify a non-authoritarian worldview, one characterized by a preference for thinking in shades of gray and privileging diversity and difference over sameness and uniformity. That worldview, likewise, was once more broadly distributed between the two parties and has increasingly gravitated toward one party, the Democrats.
To be clear, we don’t argue that all authoritarians are Republicans and all non-authoritarians are Democrats. But the degree to which they’ve sorted themselves out between the parties, in response to historical events and the way the political parties have crafted their appeals to voters, makes this particular dimension – one’s level of authoritarianism – a powerful explanation of people’s political preferences.
precursor reading:
The Authoritarians
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power
http://www.amazon.com/Guru-Papers-Masks-Authoritarian-Power/dp/1883319005
June 6, 2010 at 4:45 pm #695909
JoBParticipantthanks..
this looks like a worthwhile read…
i am kindle deprived.. but will consider ordering this one.
it has always seemed odd to me that so many Christians define themselves as Republicans these days embracing decidedly non-christian policies while while preaching love, acceptance and charity…
authoritarianism is as good a rational explanation as i have been able to find.
June 6, 2010 at 5:51 pm #695910
charlabobParticipantThanks, Ken — I’m not kindle-deprived and this book has moved to the top of my virtual t o read list.
Ironically(?) I read the review while I was listening to an excellent Terry Gross “Fresh Air’ interview with the Daily Show’s Samantha Bee and they replayed SB’s wonderful attempt to get anyone at the 2008 Repub Convention to utter the word “choice.” Not to support “pro choice” — simply to say the word. They just would not do it. Perfect storm.
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