In a democracy, a wannabe tyrant is just a comical figure on a soapbox unless a huge wave of supporters lifts him to high office.
Bob Altmeyer
Much has been written about autocrats and despots. At whatever scale, home, school, work, or an entire country, these people rule as dictators using fear and the threat of violence to keep people in line.
At the national level, an authoritarian can only rule if a large number of people support him and assist him in his rise to power. This means that authoritarian followers are a more serious problem than the actual potential tyrants.
Authoritarianism is something authoritarian followers and authoritarian leaders cook up between themselves. It happens when the followers submit too much to the leaders, trust them too much, and give them too much leeway to do whatever they want–which often is something undemocratic, tyrannical and brutal.
Bob Atlmeyer
What makes an authoritarian follower?
Authoritarian followers have been studied extensively. They have been found to have three basic personality traits.
Psychologically these followers have personalities featuring:
Bob Altmeyer
1) a high degree of submission to the established, legitimate authorities in their society;
2) high levels of aggression in the name of their authorities; and
3) a high level of conventionalism.
Submission. Society cannot function without some degree of submission to authority. Submission to traffic laws is an easy example of this. But people with authoritarian follower personalities tend to submit to authority even when it is corrupt, unfair, and evil. They easily believe lies when told by a perceived authority. They trust authorities who don’t deserve trust and hold them blameless when they do something wrong.
Aggression. Authoritarian followers believe in punishment. They like to see people “get what they deserve.” They carry within themselves a hidden font of hostility that seeks an “authority approved” way to burst forth. This is why so much anger is unleashed at a Trump rally. He gives them permission to chant and swear and throw things – and they love him for it. Such followers can easily be stirred to mob violence (as we saw at the Capitol on January 6, 2021).
Conventionalism. Authoritarian followers tend to obey and follow the norms and customs that their authorities have decreed. But they also believe that everyone else should have to obey those same norms and customs. Being too fearful to chart their own independent course in life, followers prefer to have an authority figure tell them what to do and what to believe. They resist change and look down upon people who are different from, or who disagree with, them.
Authoritarianism is not authority
Megalomaniacs can come across as very confident and sure of themselves. They present a strong, dominant, outward image. However, psychologically speaking, their inflated ego and self-centeredness usually stems from inner insecurity.
These authoritarians often present themselves as the leader and simply expect people to fall in line. It is a bluff, a false front, but it works surprisingly often. People with “follower” personalities fall for the ruse practically every time.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, like other Christian groups, are very vulnerable to authoritarianism. Christians are, of course, followers by definition. We generally support conventional norms and teach submission to law (at least God’s law). Latter-day Saints are particularly inclined to accept the dictates of authority figures because we believe in a literal restoration of Priesthood authority from Heavenly beings.
Unscrupulous authoritarian politicians find it only too easy to manipulate our natural respect for authority into blind followership for themselves. Those who follow Jesus can too often be manipulated into blindly following anyone who pretends to strength and leadership.
Just as Christians learn to not doubt or question the commandments of Jesus, we don’t seem to know how to question and be skeptical of the claims of authoritarian politicians. Many people just surrender their ability to think and ask critical questions over to a blind acceptance of whatever an authoritarian leader says.
Authority is not authoritarianism
God is not interested in His children just becoming trained and obedient ‘pets’ who will not chew on His slippers in the celestial living room. No, God wants His children to grow up spiritually and join Him in the family business.
Dale G. Renlund
The purpose of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is not to teach us to be obedient. Its purpose is to exalt us. Yes, obedience is a part of the process, but it is the method, not the goal.
We are called to become wise and compassionate leaders, not ignorant, blind followers. Jesus is not only our Lord, He is our role model. Our goal is to become like Him.
When Jesus is referred to as “Master,” it is not in the sense of Master over slaves. It is in the respectful academic sense of “Master of Knowledge.” He wants to share His knowledge with us. He is our mentor and invites us to become His colleague.
For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Moses 1:39
Most importantly, Jesus is not an egotist. He does not work for himself. He sacrificed His very life to further the plan of His Father. And His Father’s plan is for us to be happy and achieve our highest potential.
Authoritarian demagogues never sacrifice anything for others. They do nothing to actually improve the lives of their adoring followers. The only thing they care about is how large their crowd is and how enthusiastically they cheer for the demagogue.
Hero worship is not the correct path
Members of the LDS Church are often admonished to “follow the Prophet,” but the leaders of the Church are not looking for personal admirers. Instead, they want to be listened to and taken seriously. They want us to emulate them by following their example, taking their advice, and acting upon their recommendations.
For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-28
Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.
Latter-day Saints need to repent and cease their enthusiastic political support of Satan’s kingdom. The United States is in imminent danger of an authoritarian coup and many “Saints” are actively, though perhaps blindly, supporting the fascists. We must wake up immediately and stop allowing ourselves to be deceived and manipulated by authoritarian demagogues.
Sources
Bill Schneider, “Authoritariansm: It can definitely happen here,” The Hill, July 25, 2021.
Zack Beauchamp, “Call it authoritarianism,” Vox, June 15, 2021.
Matthew C. MacWilliams, “Trump Is an Authoritarian. So Are Millions of Americans,” Politico, September 23, 2020.
Bob Altmeyer, The Authoritarians, Ebook available free online, 2006. (Note: I highly recommended you download and read this book!)
Bob Altmeyer, “Lessons of the 2020 American Election, January 6th, and Beyond,” The Authoritarians (blog), October 20, 2021.
Dale G. Renlund, “Choose You This Day,” Sunday Afternoon Session, General Conference, October 2018.
“Demagogue,” Wikipedia.
I’m glad you talked about how LDS members are susceptible to authoritarian leadership styles. We all know about submission in the church. We are constantly asked to submit our wills to the will of our Heavenly Father but in reality that many times means the Bishop, Stake President, Elders Quorum President, Relief Society President or any number of other individuals that are in a position of authority over us. Aggression and Conventionalism is something I don’t think we want to see as members but you see it in discussions in classes when there is a disagreement or on Facebook when people are commenting on anything controversial. As for Conventionalism, try talking in a Sunday School, Priesthood, or Relief Society class about LGBTQ issues and love and acceptance of them. It’s very quickly pointed out to you if you are out of the norm. So thank you Brian for writing this. I hope we can look at ourselves and see ourselves in it and change if we have to.
The notion of authoritarian followers versus committed disciples is a good one.
I recall reading Hoffer’s The True Believer many years ago. I still reflect on his comment that all successful mass movements require true believers because only they will make the necessary sacrifices. But there is a difference between a disciple who is committed and a fanatic who is “following orders.”
And there is the Perry Scheme for Cognitive and Ethical Growth. The Wikipedia summary has this:
Summary of Positions:
1. The authorities know
2. The true authorities are right, the others are frauds
3. There are some uncertainties and the authorities are working on them to find the truth
4. (a) Everyone has right to their own opinion
4. (b) The authorities don’t want the right answers. They want us to think in a certain way
5. Everything is relative but not equally valid
6. You have to make your own decisions
7. First commitment
8. Several Commitments
9. Believe own values, respect others, be ready to learn
I have elsewhere made a case that by precept and example, Joseph Smith tries to lead us to Position 9.
An important aspect of the Perry Scheme is that progress is not inevitable. Some can become cynical of all authority:
Transition 1. The person can make the transition by modifying dualism drastically to where one no longer trusts authority to have any answers, and they think it will be a long, long time before they will; therefore, there is really no way to be judged by them. Bitterness sets in, as it seems as if rewards don’t come by hard work and rightness, but by good expression and arbitrary factors. With an inability to distinguish between abstract thought and “bull”, disillusion settles and blinds the person to where they become dangerously cynical and take advantage of any opportunity to get gain.
Some respond to the uncertainties by regressing:
If the person RETREATS, rage takes over and he loses agency to make sense. He survives by avoiding complexity and ambivalence and regresses to Dualism, position 2, (multiplicity prelegitimate). He becomes moralistic righteous and has “righteous” hatred for otherness. He complains childlike and demands of authority figures to just tell him what they want.
Those who make progress towards Position 9 demonstrate distinctive traits along the way:
He senses need to be: wholehearted–but tentative, to be able to fight for his own values–yet respect others. Now, besides the other ways of studying, the person begins to read not to conciliate Authority, but to learn on his own initiative. …
He starts to see how he must be embracing and transcending of: certainty/doubt, focus/breadth, idealism/realism, tolerance/contempt, stability/flexibility. He senses need for affirmation and incorporation of existential or logical polarities. He senses need to hold polarities in tension in the interest of Truth.
This last is reminiscent of Lehi’s discourse to Jacob on the need to recognize “opposition in all things,” (2 Nephi 2:11) and of Joseph Smith’s observation that “By proving contrarieties, truth is made manifest.”