The concept of authoritarianism, first defined in The Authoritarian Personality published in 1950, has since been treated in a bewildering array of studies that have explored both its narrow psychological meaning and its broader social implications. In this volume, authors John P. Kirscht and Ronald C. Dillehay have provided a much-needed review of this growing subject, summarizing and evaluating about 260 studies that have appeared to date. Kirscht and Dillehay differentiate between the psychological and the sociological approach to authoritarianism, tracing the historical development of both schools of thought. They also outline three major views of authoritarianism: as antecedent to certain types of behavior (for example, ethnic prejudice), as the consequence of other variables (such as child rearing practices), or as a correlate of yet other processes(e.g. alienation); these views, in turn, suggest a variety of theoretical and methodological issues. The authors review, in addition, the multitudes of beliefs and behaviors thought to vary with authoritarianism, examining the validity of these relationships in empirical research. While the authors do not attempt to reformulate or redefine authoritarianism, they point up avenues for future research and single out significant research findings which are likely to offer the firmest ground for development.

The concept of authoritarianism, first defined in The Authoritarian Personality published in 1950, has since been treated in a bewildering array of studies that have explored both its narrow psychological meaning and its broader social implications. In this volume, authors John P. Kirscht and Ronald C. Dillehay have provided a much-needed review of this growing subject, summarizing and evaluating about 260 studies that have appeared to date. Kirscht and Dillehay differentiate between the psychological and the sociological approach to authoritarianism, tracing the historical development of both schools of thought. They also outline three major views of authoritarianism: as antecedent to certain types of behavior (for example, ethnic prejudice), as the consequence of other variables (such as child rearing practices), or as a correlate of yet other processes(e.g. alienation); these views, in turn, suggest a variety of theoretical and methodological issues. The authors review, in addition, the multitudes of beliefs and behaviors thought to vary with authoritarianism, examining the validity of these relationships in empirical research. While the authors do not attempt to reformulate or redefine authoritarianism, they point up avenues for future research and single out significant research findings which are likely to offer the firmest ground for development.

While the international system has been evolving in an increasingly liberal direction, the level of democratic practice within the post-Soviet region has, on the whole, declined. Two decades after the popular uprisings against communism, many governments in the region have successfully blunted both popular and international pressures for democratic consolidation. Each selection in this volume explores how international factors interact with domestic conditions to explain the persistence of authoritarianism throughout the region. The selections in the volume cover several countries, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Ossetia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus; special attention is paid to the Russian Federation since it is both a member of the region and acts as an external actor influencing the political development of its neighbors. This volume is especially relevant as the world again experiences the surprising overthrow of long-running authoritarian regimes. The failure of democratic consolidation among post-Soviet states offers important lessons for policymakers and academics dealing with the recent wave of political transitions in the Middle East and Asia.

Although politics at the elite level has been polarized for some time, a scholarly controversy has raged over whether ordinary Americans are polarized. This book argues that they are and that the reason is growing polarization of worldviews - what guides people's view of right and wrong and good and evil. These differences in worldview are rooted in what Marc J. Hetherington and Jonathan D. Weiler describe as authoritarianism. They show that differences of opinion concerning the most provocative issues on the contemporary issue agenda - about race, gay marriage, illegal immigration, and the use of force to resolve security problems - reflect differences in individuals' levels of authoritarianism. Events and strategic political decisions have conspired to make all these considerations more salient. The authors demonstrate that the left and the right have coalesced around these opposing worldviews, which has provided politics with more incandescent hues than before.

Based on a detailed study of 35 cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, this book explores the fate of competitive authoritarian regimes between 1990 and 2008. It finds that where social, economic, and technocratic ties to the West were extensive, as in Eastern Europe and the Americas, the external cost of abuse led incumbents to cede power rather than crack down, which led to democratization. Where ties to the West were limited, external democratizing pressure was weaker and countries rarely democratized. In these cases, regime outcomes hinged on the character of state and ruling party organizations. Where incumbents possessed developed and cohesive coercive party structures, they could thwart opposition challenges, and competitive authoritarian regimes survived; where incumbents lacked such organizational tools, regimes were unstable but rarely democratized.

With democracy in decline, authoritarian governments are staging a comeback around the world. Over the past decade, illiberal powers have become emboldened and gained influence within the global arena. Leading authoritarian countries—including China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela—have developed new tools and strategies to contain the spread of democracy and challenge the liberal international political order. Meanwhile, the advanced democracies have retreated, failing to respond to the threat posed by the authoritarians. As undemocratic regimes become more assertive, they are working together to repress civil society while tightening their grip on cyberspace and expanding their reach in international media. These political changes have fostered the emergence of new counternorms—such as the authoritarian subversion of credible election monitoring—that threaten to further erode the global standing of liberal democracy. In Authoritarianism Goes Global, a distinguished group of contributors present fresh insights on the complicated issues surrounding the authoritarian resurgence and the implications of these systemic shifts for the international order. This collection of essays is critical for advancing our understanding of the emerging challenges to democratic development. Contributors: Anne Applebaum, Anne-Marie Brady, Alexander Cooley, Javier Corrales, Ron Deibert, Larry Diamond, Patrick Merloe, Abbas Milani, Andrew Nathan, Marc F. Plattner, Peter Pomerantsev, Douglas Rutzen, Lilia Shevtsova, Alex Vatanka, Christopher Walker, and Frederic Wehrey