Authoritarianism can be studied as a content-free property of belief systems

Evidence

“If our interest is in the scientific study of authoritarianism, we should proceed from right authoritarianism not to a re-focus on left authoritarianism but to the general properties held in common by all forms of authoritarianism” (p. 14). Thus Rokeach set out to study “general authoritarianism,” unassociated with any particular ideology, by examining the structure of a person’s ideas, the belief system, independent of its content. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2534

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Rokeach’s ‘general authoritarianism’ as distinct from both left- and right-wing versions.
• XREF: connects to: Authoritarianism is a property of belief-change triggers, not belief content itself — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 680; Dogmatism grounded in stateable principles uniquely opposes authoritarianism and relativism — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2400