Taylor King

April 24 Authoritarianism and Threat

This article discusses the link between authoritarianism and threat while also disusing how

these factors played a role in America’s support for the war on terror. The authors Suhay and

Hetherinton argue that many average American’s in the years following 9/11 became

susceptible to “authoritarian thinking” as threats to their mortality became more real. This

almost becomes a natural reaction become citizens of a country want to feel protected and

threats tend to provoke overreaction which, can be categorized as authoritarian behavior. This

rise in authoritarian behavior when a threat is present tends to have an even greater effect on

people who can be described as “low authoritarians.” As the article points out in “normal

times”, “authoritarians are already more inclined to hold hawkish opinions and oppose

democratic principles, while the less authoritarian tends to support democratic principles and

less confrontational foreign policies.” So essentially, when people already hold these

authoritarian viewpoints in times where no threats are present, the viewpoint of these people

is likely to remain about the same in the instances when threat does actually come into play. On

the other hand, the fear of a perceived threat tends to have a greater effect on those who hold

a “moderate or low” authoritarian views due to a reaction which makes some people

overcompensate or adjust their viewpoints in order to protect themselves. I found this to be

interesting but it also feels like more of a panic reaction rather than something that is well

thought out because the article also implies that the rise in authorism isn’t always the right

reaction and that consequences may be greater when countries react to threats with

authoritarian policies.