Trump, Authoritarianism, and the End of American Democracy

Abstract

Donald Trump’s election victory in November 2016 provoked considerable consternation among analytically oriented clinicians, but surprisingly little reflection the role which authoritarian character traits played in galvanizing his base. This chapter reviews the history of “the authoritarian personality” from its inception in Berlin and Frankfurt circa 1927 to the present day, noting significant theoretical differences between Wilhelm Reich and Erich Fromm, between each of them and Theodor Adorno, and the ways their respective approaches to this subject shaped the development of the two research traditions—one psychometric, the other clinically oriented—that currently apply this idea to contemporary social realities. Topics include Freud’s “group psychology,” the theory of the sadomasochistic character, the similarities and differences between Right- and Left-wing authoritarianism, and the relationships between authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism, and authoritarianism and corruption.