The Authoritarian Dynamics: Areas of Peace and Conflict and the Theory of Authoritarian Dynamics

Abstract

The basic assumptions of Karen Stenner's authoritarian dynamics theory are tested in this paper. The idea of the theory is that there is no difference in normal situations in tolerance between authoritarian and non-authoritarian individuals. Only the situation of normative threat leads to the fact that people with authoritarian predispositions react by increasing their intolerance. As a consequence, we can expect an increase in authoritarianism-tolerance correlation in situations of present threat compared with those without such threat present. In the paper, we empirically corroborate this increased correlation in the areas that have gone through interethnic conflicts, as among people who feel threatened by the return of refugees or by the European Union. These results are based on the data collected in the areas of intensive conflict during the wars of Yugoslav disintegration (Gospic, Plaski, Pakrac) compared with those that stayed peaceful (Vrbovsko, Rovinj, Daruvar).