Authoritarian nightmare
Subtitle: Trump and his followers
By: John W. Dean and Bob Altemeyer
Contributors: Altemeyer, Bob, 1940-; Recorded Books, Inc
Publisher: Melville House Pub.
Published: 2020
Place of publication: Brooklyn, NY
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 352
ISBN-13: 9781612199061
Subjects: Authoritarianism; Populism; Politics and government; Political science; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Nationalism & Patriotism
Description: One of American political history's most famous figures, who knows what it's like to stand up to an authoritarian White House, joins with an expert on authoritarianism to take a piercing look at how someone like Donald Trump and his followers achieved power -- and what they might do to keep it. John Dean, of Watergate fame, knows what it's like to work for a strong-willed, vindictive president. But even Richard Nixon, says Dean, didn't have the raw lust for power that Donald Trump has. Nor the lack of skill. Nor the deep ignorance of our democracy. So how did such a loathsome character achieve power' Suspecting the answer lay in understanding Trump's base constituency, Dean has partnered with Bob Altemeyer, a professor of psychology whose expertise is the study of authoritarianism, to see why Trump's base is so faithful to him, no matter what he does. By using some classic psychological diagnostic tools (such as the "Power Mad Scale" and the "Con Man Scale") and looking at other historic authoritarians and their movements, Dean and Altemeyer offer not only an eye-opening revelation of how Trump and his followers have gotten where they have, but where they may go next.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-352).
Table of contents: title: Chapter one: Donald Trump, COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and authoritarianism; title: Chapter two: Trump's youth: the child who is the father of a child; title: Chapter three: Trump's life from 1968 to 2016; ecstasy, agony, fakery, fraud; title: Chapter four: Trump's past as presidential prologue; title: Chapter five: Donald Trump base part I; title: social dominators; title: Chapter six: Donald Trump base: part II; title: authoritarian followers; title: Chapter seven: Disturbing attitudes and mental shortcomings of authoritarian followers; title: Chapter eight: Loyal followers: why evangelicals support Trump; title: Chapter nine: "Double highs" authoritarians; title: Chapter ten: National survey on authoritarianism; title: Chapter eleven: Trump's authoritarian enablers; title: Chapter twelve: The November election will decided the fate of America's democracy.