Reconsidering the Relationship between Authoritarianism and Republican Support in 2016 and Beyond.

Authoritarianism has become increasingly associated with Republican partisanship and vote choice for Republican candidates in presidential elections. Many have relied on this fact to explain the forces giving rise to Donald Trump's successful presidential run in 2016. But is authoritarianism driving changes in partisanship and candidate preference? Despite the wide reach of research on authoritarianism and political outcomes, the vast majority of this research rests solely on correlational analyses. This article addresses this shortcoming with two panel studies. In both cases, the findings show a more consistent and stronger reverse temporal relationship between support for Republicans and the child-rearing measure of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is not exogenous from political attitudes as widely assumed. Instead, the authoritarian divide appears to be largely a product of cue taking on the part of the electorate mimicking their political leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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