Authoritarianism as a response to external threats
Luke Kemp:
Authoritarianism — obedience to high-status authorities and the desire to punish rule-breakers — increases when individuals face a threat to their safety and security. Some percentage of a population appears always to harbor stronger authoritarianism, and studies of twins suggest that it may be largely genetic. Surveys across eight modern high-income countries found that around 10-25 per cent ranked as highly authoritarian (with the US scoring the highest). These authoritarians tend to become more politically active and aggressive when they are activated by a social challenge, most commonly the emergence of a threat. Threats triggering authoritarian behavior don’t just happen to those with underlying authoritarian tendencies. They happen to those who generally see the world as a dangerous place and affect even the most devoted peacenik (albeit to a lesser extent).
Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse, p. 165
