Sympathy for the strong leader in Europe
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8249751 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Klára Vlachová (0000-0001-5586-4672, Institute of Sociology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Politics and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2374-5126 • E-ISSN: 2374-5118 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23745118.2025.2609942 |
| OpenAlex | W7118007654 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 90 |
The rule of a strong leader above the law was found acceptable to a certain extent among 52 per cent of ESS Round 10 respondents from 30 European countries. Literature suggests that support for a strong leader is driven by individual and political factors, and individual and societal threats. The effect of individual factors and individual threats on willingness to submit to a strong leader supports the plausibility of the radicalising thesis. Adherence to strong leaders is affected by authoritarian upbringing, enhanced by lower education, ageing, economic and physical unsafety, and marginalisation. Political factors, however, are equally important. Our research confirmed that individuals extremely dissatisfied with democracy lean towards strong leaders. Nevertheless, satisfaction with democracy does not preclude a tendency to authoritarian submission. Party de-alignment, electoral apathy, and the authoritarian legacy create a political environment favourable to tendencies to authoritarian submission.
Authoritarian leadership style · Authoritarianism · Democracy · Political system · Politics · Sympathy · Human Resource and Talent Management · Leadership and Management in Organizations · Organizational Management and Change
Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe
“Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now”
The Politics of Fear
Cultural Backlash
Right‐Wing Populism and Climate Change Denial
Why are right-wing voters attracted to dominant leaders? Assessing competing theories of psychological mechanisms
How being rooted in the past can shape the future
Why Do Immigrants Make Us More Authoritarian? The Impact of Direct and Normative Threat to Social Order from Outgroupers on Ingroup Authoritarianism
The Progressive Values Scale
The curious case of left‐wing authoritarianism
Being Skeptical? Exploring Far-Right Climate-Change Communication in Germany
Democracy Misunderstood
Antidemocratic tendencies on the left, the right, and beyond
Becoming authoritarian for the greater good? Authoritarian attitudes in context of the societal crises of Covid-19 and climate change
Anti-immigrant backlash
Social and economic determinants of support for a strong non-democratic leader in democracies differ from non-democracies
Authoritarian Demand in East‐Central Europe Post‐Pandemic and Amid Neighbouring War
The Irresistible Allure of Charismatic Leaders? Populism, Social Identity, and Polarisation
Questioning the mythology of the strong leader
Left-wing authoritarianism is not a myth, but a worrisome reality. Evidence from 13 Eastern European countries
Sexually modern nativist voters’
Half of All Authoritarians Are Left Wing
Immigration, threat perception, and national identity
Unraveling the Black Mountain
On the Preferences for Strong Leadership
Another Progressive's Dilemma
Political extremism — left, center, and right
Left-Authoritarians and Policy Representation in Western Europe
How do private companies shape responses to migration in Europe? Informality, organizational decisions, and transnational change
Discriminated group identity and satisfaction with democracy in Europe
The Presence of Left-Wing Authoritarianism in Western Europe and Its Relationship with Conservative Ideology
A nativist divide? Anti‐immigration attitudes and diffuse support for democracy in Western Europe
The New Politics of Resentment
Multicultural Policy and Political Support in European Democracies
Does Left/Right Structure Party Positions on European Integration
Cultural Backlash? How (Not) to Explain the Rise of Authoritarian Populism
Survey measures of democratic attitudes and social desirability bias
Using survey experiments for construct validation
Environmentalism, a flirt with eco-authoritarianism and the robustness of ordoliberalism
An emerging populist welfare paradigm? How populist radical right‐wing parties are reshaping the welfare state
When Do Opponents of Gay Rights Mobilize? Explaining Political Participation in Times of Backlash against Liberalism
Perceived Threat and Authoritarianism
Different Ways of Being Authoritarian
Moral Polarization Predicts Support for Authoritarian and Progressive Strong Leaders via the Perceived Breakdown of Society
Disobeying an Illegitimate Request in a Democratic or Authoritarian System
A Tripartite Approach to Right-Wing Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism and Group Identification
Authoritarianism without Dominant Ideology
Enforcing Social Conformity
Authoritarian Predispositions and Attitudes Towards Redistribution
Who Is Open to Authoritarian Governance within Western Democracies
From party to leader mobilization? The personalization of voter turnout
Right populist parties and support for strong leaders
Misunderstanding Democratic Backsliding
Support for a strong leader or democracy, or both
A third wave of autocratization is here
Communist Legacies and Left-Authoritarianism
A Welfare State for Whom? A Group‐based Account of the Austrian Freedom Party's Social Policy Profile
Is LGBT progress seen as an attack on Christians
Clarifying the structure and nature of left-wing authoritarianism
Social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism across the adult lifespan
Finding the Loch Ness Monster
The Myth of Left-Wing Authoritarianism
They love death as we love life
(Plebiscitary) leader democracy
Right-wing populism and the climate change agenda
The coming of environmental authoritarianism
Fostering turnout
Political Legitimacy, Authoritarianism, and Climate Change
Radicalizing and Conservatizing
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |