As previous chapters have explained, more and more frequently, contemporary democratic recessions are initiated by authoritarian-style leaders taking power through popular elections rather than through elite-driven coups d’état and slowly dismantling democracy with some public consent (Bermeo, 2016). This development challenges the common perception that ordinary citizens universally consider democracy the best political system. This chapter lays the foundation for greater insight into how authoritarian values develop in consolidated democracies. There is rich literature that distinguishes between democratic and less democratic political cultures. We explore the differences, and look at how and why different cultures are more conducive to stable democracy.
We then turn to how collective values are formed at the national level by looking at historical legacies. This may help explain how authoritarian values persist in countries that are democratic but have authoritarian pasts. Studies have shown that political indoctrination that takes place during the impressionable years has an important impact on the values of citizens who lived in authoritarian regimes.
Next, we incorporate studies in political psychology to investigate what causes individuals to embrace non-democratic values. Bringing in studies that look at the individual level helps explain the nostalgia or support for authoritarianism that exists in formerly and currently authoritarian regimes, while also explaining why there are pockets of citizen support for authoritarian styles of leadership from citizens living in consolidated democracies that have never experienced authoritarianism and have no authoritarian political culture to draw from.
A large body of research has focused on whether and how a country’s cultural experiences shape its potential to democratize and to consolidate its democracy.
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