Authoritarianism

{{politics}}
{{cquote|Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of [[torture]] is torture. The object of power is power.|||[[George Orwell]], ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]''}}
{{cquote|Authoritarian systems and authoritarian leaders always appear solid on the outside&nbsp;— until suddenly, they don’t.|||Jude Blanchette<ref>[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/party-one-ccp-congress-xi-jinping Party of One: The CCP Congress and Xi Jinping’s Quest to Control China] by Jude Blanchette (October 14, 2022) ''Foreign Affairs''.</ref>}}

'''Authoritarianism''' refers to political, economic, or social systems in which power is concentrated in a central authority which acts without accountability to the people impacted by its decisions. It is also used to describe the ideology of those who support the continuation or establishment of such a system.  In order to maintain this power and control over decision-making, authoritarian systems will typically feature repression of dissenting viewpoints, broad powers given to police and military forces, disregard for human rights and personal liberties, and control over information.

Its adherents don't necessarily want to "tell you what to do" — as long as, if they disagree with you, ''someone else in power'' will tell you&nbsp;— [[Argumentum ad baculum|<i>persuasively</i>]]&nbsp;— what to do. Political scientists define authoritarianism as "not actual [[dictator]]s, but rather a psychological profile of individual voters that is characterized by a desire for order and a [[Xenophobia|fear of outsiders]]. People who score high in authoritarianism, when they feel threatened, look for strong leaders who promise to take whatever action necessary to protect them from outsiders and prevent the changes they fear."<ref>[https://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism The rise of American authoritarianism: A niche group of political scientists may have uncovered what's driving Donald Trump's ascent. What they found has implications that go well beyond 2016.] by Amanda Taub (Mar 1, 2016, 6:00 AM PST) ''Vox''.</ref> Elsewise, the term is used as a smear by people of various political beliefs.

Authoritarian intellectuals like [[Julius Evola]], {{wpl|Elizabeth Dilling||,}}, [[Jordan Peterson]] and [[Roger Scruton]] all behave much differently from authoritarian politicians such as [[Jair Bolsonaro]], Alfredo Stroessner, [[George W. Bush]] and [[Oswald Mosley]]. Since Evola, Dilling, and Peterson all push authoritarianism in democratic [[society|societies]], they tend to compromise for a hierarchical society that honors [[traditional values]].

It is this honoring of power over [[reasoning|reason]] that makes an authoritarian. The authoritarian loves rules and loves to apply them. However, for a true authoritarian, power is more important than rules: the rules themselves aren't the source of power and they don't apply to the powerful. [[1984|Oceania]] had no [[law]]s&nbsp;— it ''didn't need them''. [[Crime]] was simply whatever the [[Police state|authorities]] said it was.

Usually the first step for any would-be authoritarian leader is to arrange blanket exemptions to [[Civil rights|civil]] and to [[constitution]]al protections for broad groups of people (people accused of certain crimes, for example) and to give power to armed forces or to [[Law enforcement|the police]] to act outside of the law.{{efn|On a site such as [[RationalWiki|this]], which is run as a [[mobocracy]], authoritarians find themselves lost, as we care more about the ''spirit'' of our "rules" than ''strict adherence'' to them.}}

People [[Fundamentalism|raised to strictly follow]] [[scripture|specific writings]] as unquestionable display a strong tendency towards authoritarianism. As such, they are very dangerous to [[democracy]] and to the health of any [[society]] in which they live.

==In government==
Authoritarian [[government]]s seek to perpetuate the power of the rulers. They will often use the [[Politics of fear|fear of disorder]] to justify their rule, as in [[Egypt]], which was under a continuous state of emergency that started in 1981 and ended in 2011 when Hosni Mubarak was [[Arab Spring|finally deposed from power]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16704551 Egypt's ruling generals to partially lift emergency law] (24 January 2012) ''BBC News''.</ref> Similarly, [[Syria]] imposed a State of Emergency in 1964 and ironically lifted it in 2011, which is the same year that the now infamous [[Syrian Civil War]] broke out. Full [[state]] control over the [[media]] is also a common component of authoritarian control, as it allows the government to effectively control the populace's views, particularly of foreign events. [[Religious]] policies vary, ranging from [[theocracy]] (for instance, [[Iran]]) to complete suppression (for instance, [[North Korea]]); the common thread is the suppression of the potential threat posed by independent [[religious leaders]].<ref group=note>See [[China]]'s official [[Catholic]] church.</ref> Heavy-handed policing and [[arbitrary detention]] suppress any dissent that survives the government's other methods of control by placing the regime's opponents in government custody. In [[Hungary]], authoritarian [[Viktor Orbán]] recently banned [[gender]] studies.

Some, like [[Jeane Kirkpatrick]], have tried to [[No True Scotsman|make a distinction]] between "authoritarian" and "[[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]]" regimes. The general idea is that authoritarian regimes still allowed for some freedom and thus could be reformed, unlike the completely dominating totalitarian ones. Most see this as a desperate attempt to make it O.K. for [[Ronald Reagan]] to have [[Double standard|supported authoritarian regimes]],<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/ronald-reagan-finance-genocide-guatemala/story?id=19179627 Did Reagan Finance Genocide in Guatemala? Ronald Reagan Had a Cozy Relationship With Guatemalan Dictator Efrain Rios Montt] (May 14, 2013, 3:19 PM) ''ABC News''.</ref> while he still blasted the [[Soviet Union]] on its [[human rights]] problems.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150524153128/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/11/world/reagan-assails-soviet-on-human-rights.html Reagan Assails Soviet on Human Rights] (December 11, 1984) ''The New York Times'' (archived from May 24, 2015).</ref> However, nothing in reality suggests that authoritarian regimes are any better when it comes to human rights. For example, {{wpl|Operation Condor||,}} an US-backed campaign of political repression in [[Latin America]], claimed up to 30,000 lives in [[Argentina]],<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54718440 Argentina Dirty War: Torture and baby theft trial under way] (28 October 2020) ''BBC''.</ref> 3,065 in [[Chile]],<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-14584095 Chile recognises 9,800 more victims of Pinochet's rule] (18 August 2011) ''BBC''.</ref> and hundreds of others in [[Brazil]], [[Uruguay]], and [[Paraguay]].<ref>[http://cnv.memoriasreveladas.gov.br/images/pdf/relatorio/volume_1_digital.pdf ''Comissão Nacional da Verdade: Relatório''] by José Carlos Dias et al. (2014) Brazil Comissão Nacional da Verdade. ISBN 9788585142643.</ref><ref>[https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/mundo/ft2908200808.htm Relatório lista crimes de Stroessner] (29 de agosto de 2008) ''Folha de S. Paulo Mundo''.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4494286.stm New find in Uruguay 'missing' dig] (3 December 2005, 04:47 GMT) ''BBC News''.</ref> Similarly, the "authoritarian" [[Suharto]] regime in [[Indonesia]] gained power through [[Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66|mass murder of political opponents]], and engaged in another [[genocidal]] campaign against [[Timor-Leste]], altogether claiming hundreds of thousands of victims.

==The authoritarian mindset==
{{cquote|[I]t has one iron rule: logic is an enemy and truth is a menace.|||[[Twilight Zone|Rod Serling]], {{wpl|The Obsolete Man|'The Obsolete Man'}}}}

Research shows that authoritarians are far more likely to exhibit "[[Fractal wrongness|sloppy reasoning]], [[Doublethink|highly-compartmentalized beliefs]], double standards or other [[hypocrisy]], self-blindness, a profound [[ethnocentrism]], and&nbsp;— to top it all off&nbsp;— a ferocious [[dogma]]tism that makes it unlikely anyone could ever change their minds with [[evidence]] or [[logic]]".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161004070339/http://theauthoritarians.org/options-for-getting-the-book/ ''The Authoritarians''] by Bob Altemeyer (2006) self-published</ref>{{rp|75}}

At least in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], authoritarianism correlates clearly with party affiliation, with [[wingnut]] politicians and their followers tending to be more authoritarian.

Authoritarianism can also exist in a [[No True Scotsman|nominally]] [[Moonbat|left-wing]] situation&nbsp;— [[Cult of personality|cults of personality]] such as [[Stalin]]'s or the [[Kim]] family's are examples. Other such examples might include the [[French Revolution|French Reign of Terror]], in which [[egalitarianism]] was twisted into a chaotic witch hunt that consumed its own leaders (including {{wpl|Maximilien Robespierre}} himself), left-wing [[Groupthink|purity trolls]]{{efn|While this is the typical right-wing mental image of [[social justice warrior]]s, people like this do exist in reality.}} (including the centrist [[PUMA]] movement in American politics) and the [[Life of Brian|Judean People's Front]].{{efn|[[Schism|SPLITTERS]]!}}

Although many [[libertarian]]s and [[anarchist]]s have attempted to equate the two, statism and authoritarianism are not the same thing; although most authoritarians are statists, so are quite a lot of people who believe one of the functions of government is to enforce [[civil rights]].

All of the [[monotheistic]] religions provide a model of authoritarianism, which conditions its members to be tolerant at least of authoritarians, if not outright preferential of them.

{{cquote|Many learned too late the rule about cooperating with authoritarian regimes: as with the related world of [[organized crime]], the moment you agree to do one thing, the trap is set for you to do another.|||Ruth Ben-Ghiat<ref name=benghiat/>{{rp|101}}}}

[[Hollywood values|Hollywood culture]] has both inspired authoritarians (e.g., Mussolini's propaganda films and Trump's ''The Apprentice''), and been used by authoritarians to project a aura of normalcy (e.g. Pinochet's broadcasting American sitcoms on TV).<ref name=benghiat/>{{rp|98,108}}

==Tactics==
Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat identified several tactics that have been used by authoritarians in modern times:<ref name=benghiat>''Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present'' by Ruth Ben-Ghiat (2021) W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393868419.</ref>{{rp|66-70,121-124}}
*Projection of virility: This takes several forms:
**Attempts at erasure of prior leader's legacy ([[Donald Trump|Trump]] attempting to roll back [[Obama]]'s legacy, [[Pinochet]] erasing [[Allende]]'s achievements)
**Persecution of [[LGBTQ]] people
**Control of birthing peoples’ bodies (primarily targeting cisgender women; [[antifeminism]] and [[misogyny]], [[anti-abortion]] laws, incentivizing child-bearing, particularly to counter perceived population decline such as the [[white genocide]] [[conspiracy theory]])
*Creation of national projects that support the framing of [[utopia]], [[nostalgia]] and crisis
*[[Irredentism]], [[imperialism]]
*Mobilization of expatriates to promote regime [[propaganda]], and targeting expatriates who are critical of the regime
*Rather than merely representing the nation, the authoritarian claims to embody it, thus creating a [[cult of personality]].
*Promoting and espousing [[anti-intellectualism]]
*Corruption as a means of rewarding key supporters and punishing opponents<ref name=benghiat/>{{rp|141-164}}
*Violence and [[torture]] as a means of exercising power and control<ref name=benghiat/>{{rp|165-190}}

==Trump==
{{main|Authoritarianism of Donald Trump}}
{{cquote|I can't stand this indecision, married with a lack of vision|||Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFU1GeGFpzY Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World] ''YouTube''.</ref>}}
{{cquote|He is a very outstanding man, unquestionably talented. He is the absolute leader of the presidential race.|||[[Vladimir Putin]] on Trump.<ref>[http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/12/putin-calls-trump-an-outstanding-talented-man/ Putin calls Trump an 'outstanding, talented' man] (17 December 2015) ''Vanguard News''.</ref>{{efn|If history is any guide, Putin was probably [[trolling]] us. He could give master classes in trolling Americans. Putin's endorsement [!] is him thinking that he can play Trump and use him to hurt the USA. He's probably right.}}}}
{{cquote|As we move towards a society which is [[Plutocracy|optimal from the point of view of the business classes]]&nbsp;— namely, that each individual is an atom, lacking means to communicate with others so that he or she can’t develop independent thought or action and is just a consumer, not a producer&nbsp;— people become deeply alienated, and they may hate what's going on but have no way to express that hatred constructively. And if a charismatic leader comes along, they may very well follow.|||[[Noam Chomsky]]<ref>[http://chomsky.info/1991____/ Language, Politics, and Composition: A Conversation with Noam Chomsky ] Noam Chomsky interviewed by Gary A. Olson and Lester Faigley (1991) ''Journal of Advanced Composition'' 11(1):1-35.</ref>}}
[[Donald Trump|Trump]] is a novel phenomenon under the American sun, but anyone living in Europe had the same thought. ''Oh, America is getting its own oligarch now''.<ref>Lozovsky, Ilya, [https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/02/a-russian-reporter-goes-to-a-trump-rally-and-feels-at-home/ "A Russian Reporter Goes to a Trump Rally — And Feels at Home"], ''Foreign Policy'' (2/2/16, 1:12 pm).</ref> It's the same mentality that the people have about a lot of Russian oligarchs involved in politics: They can't be bribed, or bought off, and they already have so much that people think they won't try to steal more (Trump makes a lot of anti-corruption noises but doesn't make a case for it which extends beyond ''trust me''). Of course, it's ridiculous to elect billionaires to represent Middle America, but it shows just how out-of-touch part of the country is. 

Whenever the economy endures a meltdown, the [[far-right]] predictably exploits the hardships. In Europe, they had the Syrian refugee crisis exploding and the various fringe groups latched onto it. They used social media in a (frankly) brilliantly effective manner to get their message across: Europe is under attack, civil war, refugees are raping white women left and right. People were literally asking if it's safe to visit Cologne or will they get raped? Europe's far-right is comical too, their intentions not so much. 

Another thing that many Europeans can find familiar: upon a terrorist attack, the right wing instantly calls for more invasive or downright oppressive measures, ostensibly to "protect" the people. Trump would fit right at home with many of them: he advocated for American citizens to report their suspicious neighbors to the authorities, a hallmark of [[Nazi Germany|several]] [[Soviet Union|oppressive]] [[North Korea|regimes]] in history. He goes even further and says if you ''don't'' report your suspicious neighbors, you'll be "brought to justice", which gives him ''carte blanche'' to arrest just about anyone.<ref>Christina Wilkie (6/13/2016) [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-orlando-san-bernardino_us_575f1802e4b0e4fe51435eb2 "Donald Trump: Americans Who Don’t Report Their Suspicious Neighbors Should Be ‘Brought To Justice’"]</ref><ref group=note>[[Nazism|Sound familiar?]]</ref> A major hallmark of authoritarianism is when they employ divide and conquer tactics, both to prevent any rivals from undercutting the leader and to promote a "survival of the fittest" mindset among their lackeys. Hitler famously did this while he was in power, which destroyed the Nazis' chances from winning the war. Meanwhile, Trump did this for his own campaign staffers, who are split between those who think he should go with his gut and those who try to make him more "presidential".<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-campaign-chaos-donald-trump-shows-his-management-style/2016/05/28/f24bba14-241e-11e6-9e7f-57890b612299_story.html In campaign chaos, Donald Trump shows his management style] by Sean Sullivan & Robert Costa (May 28, 2016 at 3:10 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> 

Like most authoritarians, Trump wants to stack the government with his cronies. According to Governor [[Chris Christie]], Trump wants to fire the entire civil service (which is supposed to be apolitical and non-ideological) so it can be replaced with a crop of patronage-driven opportunists or [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party style]] extremists at best. This purging of the civil service would allow, for instance, a Goldman Sachs banker to be Treasury Secretary, which heads the economy and its regulations, while ''keeping'' his job as a banker — it's a call back to the patronage years of the Gilded Age.<ref>[http://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/12233454/christie-trump-purge-federal-employees Donald Trump and Chris Christie are reportedly planning to purge the civil service] by Dylan Matthews (Jul 20, 2016, 9:30 AM PDT) ''Vox''.</ref><ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-could-ask-congress-for-law-to-oust-obama-appointees/ Report: Trump could ask Congress for law to oust "burrowing" Obama appointees] by Reena Flores (July 20, 2016 / 11:33 AM EDT) ''CBS News''.</ref><ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-purge-exclusive-idUSKCN10003A Trump could seek new law to purge government of Obama appointees] by Emily Flitter (July 20, 20163:52 PM PDT) ''Reuters''.</ref><ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/07/christie-says-trump-aims-to-purge-federal-civil-service-of-obama-hires.html Christie Says Trump Will Change Firing Laws to Purge Federal Civil Service of Obama Hires] by Elliot Hannon (July 19, 201611:04 PM) ''Slate''.</ref>

Beyond just the terrorism, this time around, Americans had:
* Very bad recession that still isn't totally over
* Gen-X getting crushed by the housing crisis, millennials crushed under student loan debt, and both suffering from a poor job market
* Collapse of social conservatism and the [[religious right]]<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/business/economy/trumps-rise-shows-religion-is-losing-its-political-power.html Donald Trump’s Rise Shows Religion Is Losing Its Political Power] by Eduardo Porter (4.5.16) ''The New York Times''.</ref>
* Chinese stock bubble happening at the worst moment
* Use of social media in politics, for the first time in history, especially from the far-right

Take all of that, add the United States' penchant for gun violence, and combine it with yet another trademark of strongmen: threatening political assassination of their opponents, courtesy of Trump yet again.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-clinton-shoot_us_57aa2f6de4b0ba7ed23dd652 Donald Trump Suggests Shooting Hillary Clinton, Her Supreme Court Picks, Or Both] by S. V. Date (Aug 9, 2016) ''Huffington Post''.</ref> Trump's authoritarianism shouldn't even be controversial in the [[libertarian]] sphere, but it is. It's no secret how the libertarian movement is disproportionately filled with white nationalists, but it's still surprising how many immediately abandoned all of their principles to support the guy over [[Ron Paul]]'s own son. If anything, they should be the ones who hate Trump the most, but their partisanship and tribalism is really showing this year.<ref>Michael Lind, [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/trump-tea-party-populist-exposed-213111 "The proof is in: the GOP base isn’t small-government libertarian; it’s old-fashioned populist"], Politico. Xenophobic, racist, anti-vaxxer, birther, makes up statistics, lies about everything, then denies those lies… Yup, sounds like a pretty standard libertarian candidate! But rest assured, they'll keep chanting about how they Logic™ the most, and how they "hate both sides", etc.</ref> Yet [[paleoconservatism]] has always been a populist movement and Trump knows exactly how to fire those people up, to get the [[Mussolini]] juices flowing (which some think the U.S. actually ''needs'' as an [[My enemy's enemy|alternative]] to the cult of [[Vladimir Putin|Putin]]).<ref>Stephen Collinson, [http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/27/politics/donald-trump-macho-elections-2016/index.html "Donald Trump: Macho Man of 2016"], CNN. '''Trump''': "He hates Obama, he doesn't respect Obama. ... If I am president, Putin says (to [[Edward Snowden|Snowden]]), 'Hey, boom, you're gone,'")</ref><ref>David Ignatius, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-donald-trump-an-american-putin/2015/08/18/46c3dd38-45db-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html "Is Donald Trump an American Putin?"], ''Washington Post''.</ref> If you listen to any employee of Trump being interviewed about the election it sounds like they are either a member of a Scientology-like cult or have guns pointed at their head.<ref>Russell Sanders and Betsy Warren, [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/14/the-donald-s-trumped-up-medical-report.html "Trump's Medical Report Is More Insane Than His Campaign Somehow"], Daily Beast (12.14.15 3:00 PM ET).</ref> Trump has built a cult of personality around himself, and this 'brand' has unfortunately grown much larger as a result of his candidacy

==Recovery==
Recovery from authoritarian rule can be exceedingly difficult because authoritarians attempt to subvert democratic institutions, even if they continue to hold less-than-fair elections.<ref>[https://democracyfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2018_WhatComesNext_vFINAL.pdf What Comes Next? Lessons for the Recovery of Liberal Democracy] By Rachel Kleinfled & David Solimini (2018 October 31<sup>st</sup>) ''Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Democracy Fund''.</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/11/16/feature/unfixable-several-nations-have-tried-to-restore-democracy-after-populist-strongmen-it-was-never-the-same/ Unfixable? Several nations have tried to restore democracy after populist strongmen. It was never the same] by Joshua Kurlantzick (November 16, 2018) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> However, democratic institutions are themselves just a freer way of establishing and submitting to  authority for most people.{{citation needed}}

==Prevalence== 
As of 2022, the Democracy Index currently considers 59 countries to be authoritarian, and as of 2021, Freedom House currently rates 54 countries as Not Free. Authoritarian regimes are most common in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Middle East and North Africa. A number of them also exist in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Asia. A few countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are also authoritarian.{{Citation needed}}

==See also==
{{collist|2|
* [[Dictatorship]]
* [[Horseshoe theory]]
* [[Populism]]
* [[Mobocracy]] 
* [[Post-truth]]
* [[Totalitarianism]]
}}

==External Links==
* [http://www.evcforum.net/DataDropsite/TheAuthoritarians.pdf ''The Authoritarians''], by [[Bob Altemeyer]], [https://theauthoritarians.org/donald-trump-and-authoritarian-followers/ and] [https://theauthoritarians.org/comment-on-the-tea-party-movement/ some] [https://theauthoritarians.org/postscript-on-the-2008-u-s-election/ related] [https://theauthoritarians.org/home-page-preface-written-in-2006/ postscripts]
* The Authoritarian Personality: [https://www.marxists.org/archive/fromm/works/1957/authoritarian.htm 1] [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Authoritarian_Personality 2] [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp39268 3]
* [[TV Tropes]] has some surprisingly good articles on the [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FascistButInefficient inefficiency of fascism] and the appropriately named [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DystopiaIsHard Dystopia Is Hard].

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Antifeminism]]
[[Category:Anti-intellectualism]]
[[Category:Authoritarianism| ]]
[[Category:Cults]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Government]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Propaganda]]
[[Category:Sexism]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]

Categories: Antifeminism, Anti-intellectualism, Authoritarianism, Cults, Fascism, Government, Homophobia, Political terms, Propaganda, Sexism, Transphobia