Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Stealth Democracy: Authoritarianism And Democratic Deliberation, Peter Muhlberger

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In Stealth Democracy, Hibbing and Theiss-Morse seek to show that much of the American public desires "stealth democracy"--a democracy run like a business with little deliberation or public input. The authors maintain that stealth democracy beliefs are largely reasonable preferences, and the public does not want and would react negatively to a more deliberative democracy. This paper introduces an opposing "authoritarian stealth democrats thesis" that suggests that stealth democracy beliefs may be driven by authoritarianism and a variety of related orientations including poor political perspective taking and low cognitive engagement. These orientations may be ameliorated through democratic deliberation. Hypotheses are …

Historical Resistance Movements And Modern Euroscepticism, Kamil D. Lungu

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This study explores the relationship between historical resistance and their relationship to modern-day Euroscepticism. It can be seen that within the European Union, the political orientation of Eurosceptic parties differs, with some political orientations being more popular in some parts of the continent compared to others—Eastern European states tend to have right-wing parties, while many Southern European states having left-wing parties. The author suggests that this is a result of the orientation of the resistance movements to the state’s historic authoritarian regime. Case studies were conducted on Spain and Poland—two EU with similar sized area, population, and economies—looking at their …

A Tale Of Two Democrats: How Authoritarianism Divides The Democratic Party, Julie Wronski, Alexa Bankert, Karyn Amira, April Johnson, Lindsey Levitan

Faculty and Research Publications

Authoritarianism has been predominantly used in American politics as a predictor of Republican identification and conservative policy preferences. We argue that this approach has neglected the role authoritarianism plays among Democrats and how it can operate within political parties regardless of their ideological orientation. Drawing from three distinct sets of data, we demonstrate the impact of authoritarianism in the 2016 Democratic Party’s primaries. Authoritarianism consistently predicts differences in primary voting among Democrats, particularly support for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. This effect is robust across various model specifications including controls for ideology, partisan strength, and other predispositions. These results highlight …

A Tale Of Two Democrats: How Authoritarianism Divides The Democratic Party, Julie Wronski, Alexa Bankert, Karyn Amira, April A. Johnson, Lindsey C. Levitan

Faculty and Research Publications

Authoritarianism has been predominantly used in American politics as a predictor of Republican identification and conservative policy preferences. We argue that this approach has neglected the role authoritarianism plays among Democrats and how it can operate within political parties regardless of their ideological orientation. Drawing from three distinct sets of data, we demonstrate the impact of authoritarianism in the 2016 Democratic Party’s primaries. Authoritarianism consistently predicts differences in primary voting among Democrats, particularly support for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. This effect is robust across various model specifications including controls for ideology, partisan strength, and other predispositions. These results highlight …

A Tale Of Two Democrats: How Authoritarianism Divides The Democratic Party, Julie Wronski, Alexa Bankert, Karyn Amira, April A. Johnson, Lindsey C. Levitan

April Johnson

Trickle-Down Authoritarianism & “Plaid Shirt Guy”, Evan Barrett

Highlands College

An editorial column by Evan Barrett which appeared in the following newspapers:

The Montana Post September 14, 2018

The Missoula Current September 13, 2018

The Dictators’ Dilemma: Repression Or Concessions In The Face Of Resistance, Chris Massaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Arab Spring revolts of late 2010 and 2011 were a profound moment in the history of a region troubled by decades of authoritarianism. Years of economic mismanagement and security force repression trammeled on the rights and aspirations of people striving for a better life. When social movements and anti-government protests erupted throughout the region, each country responded to the uprisings with different methodologies. This research closely examines why autocratic regimes of the region chose such divergent responses, with some opting to use violent repression, others attempting to make concessions and most combined repression with concessions. I will make the …

Stealth Democracy: Authoritarianism And Democratic Deliberation, Peter Muhlberger

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

In Stealth Democracy, Hibbing and Theiss-Morse seek to show that much of the American public desires "stealth democracy"--a democracy run like a business with little deliberation or public input. The authors maintain that stealth democracy beliefs are largely reasonable preferences, and the public does not want and would react negatively to a more deliberative democracy. This paper introduces an opposing "authoritarian stealth democrats thesis" that suggests that stealth democracy beliefs may be driven by authoritarianism and a variety of related orientations including poor political perspective taking and low cognitive engagement. These orientations may be ameliorated through democratic deliberation. Hypotheses are …