Not exactly twins: Authoritarians and populists differ in their attitudes toward trust in government, elitism, pluralism, political identification, and identity fusion

Abstract

IntroductionAuthoritarianism and populism are used regularly to describe the individuals responsible for anti‐democratic action. These two constructs share some similarities with regard to how they hinder democracy and at times have been used interchangeably to describe such issues. However, authoritarians and populists may differ with regard to their political identification, as well as how they view the government and the existing establishment.ObjectivesWith a US college sample, this study's goal was to examine how authoritarianism and populist attitudes influence views on pluralism, elitism, trust in government, identity fusion, and political identification (identification with American political parties).ResultsThe findings indicated that right‐wing authoritarians trusted the government, endorsed elitist attitudes, but were low on pluralism; this pattern was the opposite for those high on populist attitudes. Left‐wing authoritarianism was related only to low pluralism. Moreover, low trust in the government partially mediated the link between populist attitudes and pluralism. Results also indicated that right‐wing and left‐wing authoritarians identified with the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, whereas political identification was unrelated to populist attitudes. Furthermore, identity fusion partially mediated the link between right‐wing authoritarianism and identification with the Republican Party.ConclusionAuthoritarianism and populist attitudes may explain different motivations for anti‐democratic thought and behaviors. This study contributes to ongoing debates found in contemporary populism and authoritarianism research as well as different solutions to addressing their rise in mainstream politics.