Southern Low-RWA politicians stay Democrats because Republican advancement demands authoritarian beliefs

Evidence

Fourth, you can see a pretty clear pattern of regional differences in Figure 11.2. Northern states tend to score lower than southern states, and have bigger differences between Democrats and Republicans. I was surprised that the parties did not flip-flop in the South. I expected southern Democratic lawmakers (as the long-ruling party) to prove more authoritarian, and upstarts to join the Republicans. But we saw that flip-flop only in Louisiana. There were lots of High RWA Democrats in the South, but the Low RWA legislators south of the Mason-Dixon Line were almost always Democrats too. Outside Connecticut, Low RWAs seeking political careers either do not often join the Republican Party or do not advance in it unless they change their beliefs. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3713

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Whitehead & Perry’s regional (southern) Christian-nationalism findings and the Cooper material on party realignment.