Any deviation from convention is not to be tolerated. A more recent interpretation is that authoritarianism is about social conformity ( Feldman & Stenner 1997, Feldman 2003). 1950), suggests that people with authoritarian traits are likely to believe that submission to authority is essential and that those who fail to submit are to be punished. The still-classic work on this, The Authoritarian Personality ( Adorno et al. There is another kind of authoritarianism, one that resides at the micro level. This type of authoritarianism, we think it safe to say, resides at the macro level of analysis. Classic examples include, of course, Italy's Mussolini and Germany's Hitler. Civil liberties, if they exist, remain in constant peril. Authoritarian regimes are characterized by, among other things, weakened institutions, the unregulated use of executive power, repression, and patronage with its concomitant loyalty to the ruler or ruling party ( Linz 1964). We consider how scholars have come to understand the circumstances under which people of color (POC) come to be exposed to authoritarianism and how they are affected by it.īefore continuing, we think it wise to first unpack what we mean when referring to “authoritarianism.” Authoritarianism, in the context of comparative politics, in general, describes a regime type in which the power to govern is concentrated in a single party or run by a single figure. This article takes as its focus the impact of authoritarianism on communities of color. White southern politicians were the rulers, and the black community, bereft of the franchise, among other things, were the ruled ( Mickey 2015). In the South, the period that began after Reconstruction and ended in the early 1960s cannot be described as democratic by any definition. This, however, is not the first time the United States has faced the prospect of authoritarian rule. In turn, if these institutions are damaged, so too will be the democratic experiment that began some 250 years ago. Either by design or blunder, his challenges to such democratic institutions as a free press and independent judiciary, to name just two, may well cause irreparable harm. His propensity to govern by fiat, running roughshod over democratic norms, poses a credible threat to American democracy (e.g., Levitsky & Ziblatt 2018). With the rise of Donald Trump, the focus now shifts to the United States. In Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador, strongmen have successfully rolled back democracy. Across these regions, dictators have emerged by way of the ballot box and not the muzzle of a rifle. Recent history has stimulated renewed interest in the study of authoritarianism. We conclude with a discussion of why we believe, despite temporal and spatial differences as well as incongruous levels of analysis, that micro- and macro-level authoritarianism have much in common. Along the way, we also discuss the ways in which communities of color, often the targets of authoritarianism, resist the intolerance to which they have been exposed. Ultimately, we believe a tangible connection exists between racism and authoritarianism. This review shifts focus to an assessment of political psychology's concept of authoritarianism and how it ultimately drives racism. Confining the definition of authoritarianism to regime rule, however, leaves little room for a discussion of more contemporary authoritarianism, at the micro level. Starting in the early twentieth century, this analysis seeks to provide a better understanding of how authoritarianism once existed in enclaves in the Jim Crow South, where it was intended to dominate blacks in the wake of emancipation. This review offers a framework for understanding authoritarianism in the American past, as well as the American present. The Trump administration's blatant dismissal of democratic norms has many wondering whether it fits the authoritarian model. Authoritarianism, it seems, is alive and well these days.
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