The Authoritarians

Part of the Casswiki article series Books

The Authoritarians is a book by Bob Altemeyer, first published in 2007. It describes a kind of personality, known as the authoritarian follower or “right-wing authoritarian” (RWA). RWAs tend to adopt and aggressively enforce the rules and norms of their chosen authorities, and in tending to choose “authoritarian leaders”, easily become the tools of psychopaths in positions of power.

This book is very valuable, as understanding authoritarian followers – who constitute a large portion of the population – makes it clearer how psychopaths in positions of power can find so many people ready to do their bidding, no matter what’s involved. Authoritarian followers easily excuse lies and moral failings among their chosen leaders, are willing to commit atrocities on their behalf, attack those who differ, and in authoritarian regimes, snitch on fellow citizens.

See also

• Authoritarian follower

• Psychopathy

• Ponerology

• Political Ponerology

• The Crowd

• The Paranoia Switch

External links

• Bob Altemeyer’s page at the University of Manitoba (Along with other information, Altemeyer offers The Authoritarians as a free PDF file.)