Authoritarianism in Action

We propose a behavioral view of authoritarianism, and argue that the everyday psychology of rules and punishment is at its core. Authoritarianism is often understood at the nation-state level, categorizing particular regimes and practices as authoritarian, or at the individual level, as a set of tendencies or worldviews. We reposition behavior as the main unit of analysis. We specify a set of behaviors made available only when people interact with the state, and use state rules and state punishment to carry out their own desires (e.g., for revenge, dominance) at the expense of the rule of law. Then, we propose that at the heart of these authoritarian behaviors is regular, everyday psychology—the psychology of norms and norm enforcement via third party punishment, albeit formalized, codified, and refracted through state procedures. States solve large scale coordination problems, largely with codified rules and official third- party punishments. Sometimes people use these procedures to fairly and legitimately uphold the rule of law, and sometimes people use them for their own ends, amounting to authoritarianism. We review how the state channels human desires for punishment and rules, and how people can use state punishment and state rules to behave in authoritarian ways; State punishments can be administered selectively and personally. Official rules can be made that keep individuals from public services, or exist only to keep some people in positions of power over others. The psychology of norms and third party punishment, which enables large-scale human cooperation, is at the heart of authoritarianism.