The ‘Strongmen’ Delusion

There was a time in the 1990s when, following the end of Soviet rule and the South African apartheid regime, there was widespread hope that the authoritarianism personified by the likes of Hitler and Stalin had become a thing of the past.  But that optimism proved short-lived.

In the West, the Watergate experience of holding US President Nixon to account for breaking the law has given way to Republicans backing Trump in undermining the electoral system and instigating the storming of the Capitol. In the East, China’s decision to avoid a repeat of Mao by sharing out the top power positions was nullified by the Communist Party’s acceptance of Xi Jinping’s moves to concentrate power in himself. In Russia, Gorbachev’s attempts to move towards open democratic rule have been firmly reversed by Putin. The collapse of dictatorships in many other parts of the world during the 1990s has been succeeded by a return to power of numerous right-wing authoritarians.

Many indicators point to a resurgence of ‘Strongmen’ politics. A survey in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential elections found that over a third of voters (Democrats as well as Republicans) said that “being a strong leader was the most important quality when picking a president” – doubled the level for the 2012 elections (Easley, 2016). A study by the Hansard Society reported that over half of the British voters questioned wanted "a strong leader willing to break the rules," with 42% of them going so far as to believe that “many of the country's problems could be dealt with more effectively if the government didn't have to worry so much about votes in Parliament” (John, 2019). Significant electoral gains by authoritarian nationalist politicians in Europe, and victories for the likes of Modi, Duterte, Bolsonaro, confirm the trend of a global expansion of illiberal political control (Repucci & Slipowitz, 2022).

Is this trend irreversible? One thing we must remember is that authoritarians are adept at fooling people, but not for long. Their inherent traits of seeking to dominate others for their personal gains irrespective of the harm to others are inevitably exposed. They all divert vast sums of public money to benefit themselves, use state security to intimidate opposition, prefer to keep a small clique of wealthy elite on side while ignoring the plight of the masses, waste public funds on vanity projects, stir up animosity against vulnerable scapegoats, undermine judicial independence, and subvert electoral arrangements to suit their own ambitions.  After they have won power, their callousness and incompetence invariably increase public suffering.  The problem is that after a few decades, later generations forget what happened before, and too many fall for the lies and pseudo-patriotism again.

To halt the spread of authoritarianism, we must constantly remind people of its false promises and calamitous consequences. Furthermore, we should recognise that strong leadership is important when people need assurance that effective actions would be taken, and it ought to be provided in a form that legitimately inspires confidence, rather than through the rhetorical trickery offered by the authoritarian ‘strongmen’ type.

Researchers from London Business School (Hemant Kakkar and Niro Sivanathan) examined the preferences of 140,000 people in 69 countries over the last two decades, and found that loss of job security and increasing economic hardships tend to lead more people to seek out leaders who give the impression that they would do whatever it takes to get things done (Ferris, 2018). With economic problems worsening, it must not be left to bullish charlatans to present themselves as the only ‘strong’ leaders around.  Progressive politicians have to step up and show the public their passion, determination, and focus in getting everyone to a better tomorrow.

After all, the greatest political leaders who have delivered substantial and lasting improvements to people’s lives in the most challenging of times – think of F. D. Roosevelt, Clement Attlee – are far from meek and hesitant. Others threw the wildest accusations against them, denounced them relentlessly, but they were bold in their vision, and formidable in driving through the necessary changes. The strength they showed is the real strength we now need.

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References:

Easley, Cameron (2016) ‘Voters Want a Strong Leader More Than Anything Else, Exit Poll Shows’, Morning Consult (November 8) . https://morningconsult.com/2016/11/08/voters-want-strong-leader-anything-else-exit-poll-shows/

Ferris, Robert (2018) ‘Why voters might be choosing dominant, authoritarian leaders around the world’, CNBC (June 12) . https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/12/why-voters-might-be-choosing-dominant-authoritarian-leaders-around-the-world.html

John, Tara (2019) ‘More than half of UK voters want 'strong, rule-breaking' leader, says survey’, CNN (April 8) . https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/08/uk/hansard-strong-leader-brexit-poll-gbr-intl/index.html

Repucci, S. and Slipowitz, A. (2022) ‘The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule’, Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule

Politics & the Need for Belonging

Progressives tend to have a common frustration – policies which on any objective analysis would improve people’s quality of life end up time and time again being sidelined because more voters give their support to politicians who reject those policies. Worst of all, what those anti-progressive politicians offer instead are actions that would cause greater harm and suffering for most people.

Repeatedly we see charlatans elected on the basis of their rhetoric about helping people take back control, regain their freedom, become great again – when in practice they invariably prioritise the use of legislative power and public resources to help corporate collaborators, and undermine services for the common good and cut support for those in need.

Right-leaning media and manipulation of social media play their part in political deception, but the deeper question is why large number of people are so susceptible to such lies.

At the heart of the matter is the need for belonging.

We all want to belong to something larger than ourselves – a set of mutually supportive relationships with family and friends; a group with shared interests, expertise, concerns; or a set of connections derived from common customs, beliefs, nationality. When people find themselves cut off from these, they tend to become more driven than ever to find something else that would include them as “one of their own”.

Since the 1980s, the rise of market individualism – encapsulated by phrases such as “there is no such thing as society” and “greed is good” – has led to large scale disruption of social connections. Actively supported by Thatcher, Reagan and other champions of the New Right, profiteering became the overriding force in takeovers, asset stripping, mass redundancies, with worker unions drastically weakened, and public infrastructure for collective protection privatised or dismantled.

Hit by rapid changes and constant economic uncertainties, more and more families came under mounting strain, schools were turned into training centres for corporate fodder, the workplace seized to be a source of social bonds, and communities were shattered by corporate decisions which served owners who lived far away with no concern for the socio-economic devastation they left behind.

Over the last few decades, as increasing number of people yearn to find substitutes for the connections that have been lost, the New Right has taken their celebration of egoism to the next level – now their mantra is Don’t let anyone get in your way of getting what you want, namely, the GOOD OLD DAYS. The ‘good old days’, it turns out, means a time when every man (yes, man) is free to do whatever it takes to pursue HIS dream, without any government getting in his way with taxes, immigrants taking away his livelihood, unions obstructing his employment choices, women demanding their rights, or ‘deviants’ trampling all over sacred traditions.

This ‘Good Old Days’ shtick – in its MAGA, Brexit, or other guises – has proven to be extremely attractive for a lot of people, making them feel that for all the important things they have lost, they have gained the precious status of belonging to a group who will stand together for a return to the time when a man can freely blame and insult whomever he wants.

The only way to help people get out of this fog of lies and misdirection, is to show them that there is something genuinely meaningful and valuable that they can be a part of – a community wherein they will be respected as they respect others, given a helping hand if they need one as they are ready to lend a hand to those in need, and able to attain a far better quality of life for themselves and their families than if people were left to the mercy of powerful exploiters.