Political psychologists have long theorized that authoritarianism structures the positions people take on cultural issues and their party ties. Authoritarianism is durable; it resists the influence of other political judgments; and it is very impactful-in a word, it is strong. By contrast, researchers characterize the attitudes most people hold on most issues as unstable and ineffectual-in a word, weak. But what is true of most issues is not true of the issues that have driven America's long running culture war-abortion and gay rights. This Element demonstrates that moral issue attitudes are stronger than authoritarianism. With data from multiple sources over the period 1992-2020, it shows that (1) moral issue attitudes endure longer than authoritarianism; (2) moral issues predict change in authoritarianism; (3) authoritarianism does not systematically predict change in moral issues; and (4) moral issues have always played a much greater role structuring party ties than authoritarianism.
1. The strength of moral issues, the pliability of authoritarianism; 2. The measurement of authoritarianism and moral issues; 3. Moral issue attitudes are more stable than authoritarianism; 4. Moral issue attitudes are more impactful than authoritarianism I; 5. Moral issue attitudes are more impactful than authoritarianism II; 6. Moral issues are stronger than authoritarianism and why it matters; References.
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