Authoritarianism: The political science that explains Trump

“He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured ok?

I hate to tell you.”

The 2016 Republican presidential nominee disregards the norms of adult behavior.

He disregards the norms of American democracy as we know it.

“It should be heartbreaking to every American that we have a frontrunner who suggests there

will be a religious test for anybody that wishes to come to our shores.”

He’s so unusual, his rhetoric at times so extreme, that political experts and commentators

were blindsided by his rise.

"We better be ready for the fact that he might be leading the republican ticket."

[Laughter] "I know you don't believe that"

How did Donald Trump attract such broad support within the Republican party? And what does

it mean for the US, beyond this election?

And it turns out that this is a question that can be answered to a really

surprising extent via this niche field of political science. It developed a theory about

what’s called authoritarianism.

We’re not talking about dictatorships here. Authoritarianism is a term political scientists

use for a worldview that values order and authority, and distrusts outsiders and social change.

And when authoritarians feel threatened, they look for strongman leaders.