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The Deceptive Allue of Authoritarianism

What Makes Democracy Vulnerable

As Americans, we're prone to believe that everyone in the world longs for the privilege of personal liberty assured in our Constitution. Why, then, does the bulk of the globe's population settle for heavy-handed government? Why do democracies still persist in only a minority of modern nations?

Many, of course, are held under the heavy thumb of dictatorial power. They have no choice but to submit, no matter how much they desire freedom. On the other hand, more than one democratic government has fallen because its electorate succumbed to the seduction of empty promises from authoritarian candidates.

Indeed, the greatest threats to democracy are not from outside, from some external foe, but from inside, from a citizenry willing to acquiesce to authoritarianism. And the U.S. has gone further down that path than we commonly realize.

This episode delves into what makes authoritarian leaders attractive to people who have been blessed with the privileges of personal freedom and liberty. And from that perspective, it explains why democracy always hangs by a precarious thread.