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Podcast: New Books in American Politics
Episode: On Authoritarianism: A Discussion with Author and Political Scientist Matthew C. MacWilliams
Description: Nearly half of Americans “are inconsistent supporters of democracy and democratic institutions,” Matthew C. MacWilliams writes at the start of his book, On Fascism: 12 Lessons from American History (St. Martin’s Griffen, 2020). In the podcast, we explore MacWilliams’ thesis that “authoritarian attitudes,” typically formed in childhood, explain the ascendance of illiberal politics in the United States as well as Europe. Such attitudes, he posits, are formed prior to political dispositions that favor nativist and populist policies. We discuss his new survey research on this topic, which finds that “younger Americans are much less likely to support democracy consistently than older Americans...