Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers
by John W. Dean
View on GoodreadsFormer Nixon White House Counsel John Dean and University of Manitoba psychologist Bob Altemeyer's analysis of Trump and his supporters through the framework of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) — well-established personality scales whose populations have been studied for decades.
Core ideas
- The RWA and SDO scales were developed by Altemeyer over a career of research; the book brings their findings to bear on the Trump-supporter population specifically, with survey work commissioned for the book.
- The findings are stark: Trump support correlates highly with both RWA (submission to authority, conventionalism, aggression against out-groups) and SDO (preference for hierarchy, support for inequality), at levels not seen in prior recent Republican presidential candidates.
- Dean's contribution is the comparative historical lens — as one of the few living people with first-hand experience of Watergate-era authoritarian behavior in a US administration, his framing of the continuities and discontinuities carries unusual weight.
Published2020
Pages368
ISBN9781612199061
ReadNov 2025
