Autocrats today are polished, appear mainstream and use the media, not overt repression or violence, to gain public support and consolidate power. They govern through a ‘spin dictatorship.’
Articles on Autocrats
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We tend to underestimate the threat of rare events but we can prime ourselves to be more alert to the signs.
Whether by shuffling agency personnel, creating new agencies, or limiting their capacity for oversight, a common tactic among power-hungry leaders is establishing control over the country’s bureaucracy.
Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election results. But the work of others, from lawmakers to judges to regular citizens, stopped him. There are cautionary lessons in that for the 2024 election.
A large proportion of Americans is willing to support leaders who would violate democratic principles.
For our societies to survive, we must take action to figure out the psychology behind an attraction to tyrants — or we will be led in the future by fear-mongering, war-mongering tyrannical liars.
Top contributors
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Assistant Professor of Political Science, Allegheny College
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Assistant Professor, Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior, Neoma Business School
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Associate Professor of Political Science; Director, Center for Political Participation, Allegheny College
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Professor of Political Science, Allegheny College
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Assistant Professor of Business, Redeemer University
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Michael J. Connell Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles
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Canada Research Chair, Organizational Behaviour & Human Performance, McMaster University
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University
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Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy, Jackson School of Public Affairs, Yale University
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Professor of Political Science, Penn State
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Director, Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
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Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol
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Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles