Hi hi!

So, this is technically a "newsletter" rather than a "blog," because it shows up in your email inbox. But whereas, for example, the weekly newsletter of the Ladybug Society (founded 1986 in Denver, by Michelle and Krista Augustine) delivered actual news*, the news I'm sending you is mostly I LEARNED SOME MORE ABOUT AUTHORITARIANISM, HERE, HAVE SOME.

Broadway's Newsies jumping and spinning and carrying on
Extra!

In my own brain, I'm trying to (slowly but surely) understand current American political trends—specifically democracy vs authoritarianism. I don't want to join a substance-free moral panic comprised entirely of hysterical headlines—and I'm neurotically worried that someone (an in-law? a TSA agent?) will demand PROOF of encroaching authoritarianism—so I'm collecting some evidence for us in tidy packets, last week and this week.

Last week: qualitative. Lots of American conservative leaders are enamored of autocrats and authoritarian practice.

This week: quantitative. Tl;dr: A strangely shaped cross-section of normal people, in the US and around the world, are hankering for authoritarianism.

To the numbers!

Some of this data surprised me, and some didn’t. (Source, except where noted.)

  • Not a surprise: One study finds that around 60% of US adults are dissatisfied with how democracy works in the US (compared with around 40% of adults in “advanced economies” worldwide). OK, fair. I might include myself in that number.
  • Surprise, I think?: Another study shows that around one-third of Americans think authoritarianism would be a "good" way to run the US. That's...a lot.
  • Not a surprise: Globally, the people most likely to say that “a strong leader or military [i.e., authoritarianism] would be a good way to govern” their country are on the ideological Right. Fine. Of course lefties have gone full authoritarian too many times to count (see: Stalin, Mao). I have thoughts on conservatism x authoritarianism (they are, um, not identical, obviously)—but right now, the global Right is leaning further than the global Left toward authoritarianism.
  • Surprise: But—and this is wild!—in the US the difference between interest in authoritarianism on the Right and interest in authoritarianism on the Left is just 4 percentage points (see below). To me, this seems to support David Moss’s contention that Americans have lost faith in democracy specifically.
  • Extra surprise: AND ALSO! In the US, the biggest attitude gap about authoritarianism is between people at the ends of the political spectrum…AND CENTRISTS. “Centrists” in this country are the MOST LIKELY POLITICAL GROUP TO WANT AUTHORITARIANISM. ?!?! Guys, I feel like Americans are not making much sense and we should maybe do something about that.
Pew chart showing support for authoritarian governments (click to Pew for full alt text)
It's Opposite Day in the US
  • Dismaying surprise: Young Americans are more likely to support authoritarianism than older Americans (38% under 30!!!), and “support for democracy and rejection of authoritarian rule has decreased generationally in the United States.” My theory here? Because the US has done such a good job of promoting the message that “USA = democracy” and such a poor job of civics education, many young Americans believe that our current political mess is democracy in its purest form, and they want no part of it.
Newsies gif: STRIKE!
  • Comforting/galvanizing not-surprise: Populations who understand and care about democratic values do not want authoritarianism.

So, what's the FOR WHAT here?

That last data point drives it home: when groups of people understand and value democratic practices and norms, they are far more likely to resist authoritarianism.

So: make your simple pro-democracy script. And help your kids and friends and spouses do the same. My 16yo son and I did this on a recent road trip, and he was like, huh, that's actually helpful.

(Actually!)

(My script, btw: “The rule of law and separation of powers are important to me and to the health of this country. I’m working to elect leaders who will protect and enforce the rule of law and separation of powers.”)

It's so easy to think that 2024 USA is a shit show, so democracy itself must be a shit show. But—aside from being authoritarian propaganda—that's just not true. Turns out that understanding democracy leads to valuing democracy leads to protecting democracy.

*(Quantities/descriptions of ladybugs recently captured and consigned to life in a red plastic bucket stuffed with dead grass and leaves, because who knows what ladybugs eat? Not the president and vice president of the Ladybug Society, that's for sure!)

Newsies' Jack Kelly & David Someone
Us after a pretty good ladybug haul

What's your script? Do these numbers surprise you? xoxo