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Tuesday, June 29th, 2021

U.S. Conservatives Are Uniquely Inclined Toward Right-Wing Authoritarianism Compared to Western Peers

Author:     CAMERON EASLEY
Source:     Morning Consult
Publication Date:     June 28, 2021 at 12:01 am ET
 Link: U.S. Conservatives Are Uniquely Inclined Toward Right-Wing Authoritarianism Compared to Western Peers
Stephan:   More well-conducted research showing that about a third of the United States population would prefer a White supremacist christofascist authoritarian not a democratic form of government. The election of 2022 is going to show us whether democracy will endure in substance or only in form. It is going to get down to how many voters favoring democracy in substance and in form vote. It is up to you, me, and our friends and family.

The research, which used longtime authoritarian researcher Bob Altemeyer’s right-wing authoritarianism test and scale and builds on recent work he conducted with the Monmouth University Polling Institute, found that U.S. conservatives have stronger right-wing authoritarian tendencies than their right-of-center counterparts in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. 

  • A scale measuring propensity toward right-wing authoritarian tendencies found right-leaning Americans scored higher than their counterparts in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
  • 26% of the U.S. population qualified as highly right-wing authoritarian, Morning Consult research found, twice the share of the No. 2 countries, Canada and Australia.
  • The beliefs that voter fraud decided the 2020 election, that Capitol rioters were doing more to protect than undermine the government and that masks and vaccines are not pivotal to stopping COVID-19 were similarly prevalent among right-leaning Americans and those that scored high for right-wing authoritarianism.

This article is part of a deep dive on the Jan. 6 riot in Washington and creeping authoritarianism in America. See all of our work here.

The Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol gave the country a striking wake-up call […]

Read the Full Article

2 Comments

  1. Rev. Dean on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 at 1:05 pm

    I would rather vote for a Non-Authoritarian Socialist like Bernie Sanders. Socialism is the only thing which can bring back a “real” Democracy.

    • Will on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 6:11 am

      So true Rev. Dean I have liked Bernie from the beginning and sad that the American electorate is too dimwitted to understand the sort of life-affirming governance he represents.

      You and others might enjoy a segment on PBS TV’s “Finding Your Roots” with Henry Louis Gates about Bernie Saunders’ family tree. It puts a backstory, much of which he was unaware, to his life as he has lived it. The other part of the show was tracing Larry David’s family tree and the eventual connection found between the two. If you have never watched this series I highly recommend it.