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corita's review
4.0
Everyone should read this book. The first half looks at Trump's presidency and his role as an authoritarian leader, and the second (larger) half, outlines the extensive research that been done on to understand authoritarian followers.
The book is well documented and not light reading, but I found it accessible. It's worth the time and effort to read, especially you've wondered what makes a person or a large segment of the population follow an authoritarian. This book will explain the research.
This is not a comfortable read. The research isn't encouraging, and by the end, I was more worried about our democracy than I was when I started it. It's an eye opener.
There were a few places where Dean gave some insight into changing the current maw that separates the political right and left, but those offerings are sparse. If anyone has read this and come away with insights I missed in this area, I'd love to hear from you.
The book is well documented and not light reading, but I found it accessible. It's worth the time and effort to read, especially you've wondered what makes a person or a large segment of the population follow an authoritarian. This book will explain the research.
This is not a comfortable read. The research isn't encouraging, and by the end, I was more worried about our democracy than I was when I started it. It's an eye opener.
There were a few places where Dean gave some insight into changing the current maw that separates the political right and left, but those offerings are sparse. If anyone has read this and come away with insights I missed in this area, I'd love to hear from you.
deirdrelistens2books's review
4.0
Fast to listen to as audiobook. Makes the argument that Trump is an authoritarian and Republican voters are becoming more sympathetic to authoritarians. It’s hard to argue with after the events on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.
travis_read's review
informative
medium-paced
5.0
At first I was a little skeptical about adding this book to my queue. With the Trump years having happened so recently part of my brain was screaming, “Too soon! Too soon! Don’t put yourself through this!” But I’m glad I took the time to read it. I feel the book took used data and studies to back up why Trump’s cult-like supporters believed he could do no wrong, and stuck by him no matter the wrongs he did. The book was published in 2020, with the outcome of the November 2020 unknown, so the Trump presidency is spoken about in present-tense. It’s particularly wild, though not completely surprising, how many events this book predicted including Trump denying election results as well as the January 6th insurrection. It really goes to show that Trump and his supporters are textbook when it comes to these psychological studies. I’d definitely recommend this book to any politicos as well as those with a psychology background. Now we just have to do everything in our power to ensure this history doesn’t repeat itself in 2024.
miguelf's review
3.0
Another week, another few Trump books. This one purports to describe ‘why he acts the way he does’ and also includes his supporters in that assessment, all from a sociological viewpoint based on prior studies of authoritarians. I just didn’t find this as resonant or convincing as other books describing the various factors that have brought us to this sad state of affairs. It’s not without merit, but the studies cited feel a bit dated.
anybear77's review
4.0
This was an interesting read because it was so we'll researched and based in facts. It cites it's sources and shows you why they believe what they do.
My main problem with it is that it never really explains how high RWA's (an abbreviation much used in the book) came to be, simply that they support Trump. It does suppose they have been blindly told to follow authority, but this is presented as throwaway lines. In order to prevent more and/or understand these supporters, I would want to know how we made these ones to start with.
My main problem with it is that it never really explains how high RWA's (an abbreviation much used in the book) came to be, simply that they support Trump. It does suppose they have been blindly told to follow authority, but this is presented as throwaway lines. In order to prevent more and/or understand these supporters, I would want to know how we made these ones to start with.
mmmmgreen's review
4.0
Good because it helped me understand why some of my relatives who I think are smart people are so enamored with Trump.
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