One Leader Under God? Support for Authoritarianism among Republicans and White Evangelicals in 5 Charts
One Leader Under God? Support for Authoritarianism among Republicans and White Evangelicals in 5 Charts
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On September 10th, PRRI released its new study, One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America, based on more than 5,000 interviews with Americans this summer. I was honored to present the findings and participate in a panel discussion at a symposium to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Religion News Service that included Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present and the
Substack newsletter; Odette Yousef, national security correspondent for NPR; and Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI.
Here are the highlights of the report in five charts. I invite you to click the link above and read the entire chilling report here.
The Right-Wing Authoritarian Scale. Revisiting work first developed over concerns about the rise of fascism in early 20th century Germany and Italy (e.g., in Theodor Adorno et al’s 1950 classic The Authoritarian Personality), PRRI developed a Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWAS) based on four highly-correlated attitudes. PRRI finds that 43% of Americans score high or very high on the RWAS, compared with 37% who score low or very low; two in ten Americans qualify as having mixed opinions (20%).
Authoritarianism and Partisanship. But these attitudes are not evenly distributed across the political or religious landscape. Republicans are clear outliers. Two-thirds of Republicans score high on the RWAS (67%), compared with only 35% of independents and 28% of Democrats. Notably, Republicans who hold favorable views of Trump are nearly twice as likely as those with unfavorable views of Trump to score high on the RWAS (75% vs. 39%).
Authoritarianism and Religious Affiliation. White evangelical Protestants (64%) are the religious group most likely to score high on the RWAS, followed by slim majorities of Hispanic Protestants (54%), and white Catholics (54%). As a reminder, each of these groups also strongly supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election: 84% of white evangelical Protestants; 56% of other non-white/non-Black Protestants, and 57% of white Catholics. No other religious groups have majorities scoring high on the RWAS.
Authoritarianism and Religious Service Attendance. The survey also supplies another piece of disturbing evidence that many churches, and particularly white churches, are serving as incubators of anti-democratic values in America. The survey shows a clear positive correlation between church attendance and support for authoritarianism. A majority of weekly churchgoers (55%) score high on the RWAS, compared with 44% of Americans who attend church a few times a year and 38% of those who never attend church services. This pattern is most pronounced among whites: 59% of whites who attend religious services weekly, compared to only 48% of nonwhites who attend religious services weekly, score high on the RWAS.
Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism. Not surprisingly, the PRRI survey also finds very high correlations between holding authoritarian beliefs and holding Christian nationalist beliefs (see my summary of PRRI’s in-depth study of Christian Nationalism here). Among Christian Nationalism Adherents, for example, 84% score high or very high on the RWAS, as do 69% of Christian Nationalism Sympathizers. Generally speaking, respondents who score high on the Christian nationalism scale are likely to score high on the RWAS and vice-versa.
So how do these authoritarian orientations—so pronounced among Republicans and their white evangelical Protestant base—translate into concrete attitudes and support for actions that undermine our democracy? The PRRI survey provides some sobering answers to that question.
Christian Dominionism. Nearly half of white evangelical Protestants (48%) and nearly four in ten Republicans (39%) agree with the theocratic vision of Christian dominionism, that “God wants Christians to take control of the ‘7 mountains’ of society, including the government, education, media, and others.”
Rule Breaking. Nearly half of Republicans (49%)—and a majority of Republicans with a favorable view of Trump (55%)—agree that “Because things have gotten so far off track in this country, we need a leader who is willing to break some rules if that's what it takes to set things right.” Four in ten white evangelicals (40%) also support rule breaking by a strong leader.
Political Violence. About one-quarter of Republicans (27%)—and 32% of Republicans with a favorable view of Trump—agree that “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save the country.” Nearly one in four white evangelical Protestants (23%) also express potential support for political violence.
A Trump Coup d'état. The PRRI survey provided two disturbing measures of the lengths Trump supporters may be willing to go to ensure he returns to power.
One in four Republicans (24%)—29% of Republicans with a favorable view of Trump—and one in five white evangelical Protestants (20%) agree that “If Donald Trump is not confirmed as the winner of the 2024 election, he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume his rightful place as president.”
One in four Republicans (24%)—and 27% of Republicans with a favorable view of Trump—agree that “if the 2024 presidential election is compromised by voter fraud, everyday Americans will need to ensure the rightful leader takes office, even if it requires taking violent actions.” One in five white evangelical Protestants (18%) also agree with this sentiment.
Conversations about the current American political situation are often dominated by references to “polarization,” a term that evokes an image of two equal and opposite magnetic poles. Talking about “polarization” is a safe way of describing divisions that avoids making any value judgments. But I’m increasingly convinced that this conceptual model dangerously distorts our ability to see the true nature of the political realities in the contemporary US because it is incapable of expressing the threat that one of these poles represents.
In the 2024 election, we’re no longer simply talking about red vs. blue or conservative vs. liberal approaches to realizing our democracy. We’re now facing a choice between authoritarianism and democracy. And PRRI’s new study shows us just how far down the authoritarian road Trump’s MAGA-inflected Republican Party and its white evangelical base have gone, and are willing to go.
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