Rejection of the status quo: Conspiracy theories and preference for alternative political systems.

Conspiracy theories introduce a democratic paradox, as belief in conspiracy theories predicts support for both democratic and non-democratic political systems. In this article, we explore whether democratic and anti-democratic attitudes, resulting from conspiracy beliefs, can be mutually exclusive. In Study 1 (United Kingdom, N = 293), we show that belief in conspiracy theories is associated with decreased support for representative democracy, and increased support for direct democracy, anarchism, and autocracy within the same individuals. In Study 2 (United States, N = 302, pre-registered), we experimentally show that the perceived presence of conspiracies is linked to an increased preference for direct democracy, anarchism, and autocracy and decreased support for representative democracy. Mediational analyses suggest that widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo and, less consistently, feelings of political cynicism mediate the relationships between conspiracy beliefs and (anti-)democratic attitudes. In Study 3 (United States, N = 400, pre-registered), we experimentally manipulate (dis)satisfaction with the status quo. Results indicate that rejecting the status quo increases support for direct democracy, anarchism, and autocracy and decreases support for representative democracy. Overall, our findings suggest that people who believe in conspiracy theories tend to favour both democratic and anti-democratic political alternatives, largely attributed to citizens' desire to change the status quo.

Disease and democracy: Political regimes and countries responsiveness to COVID-19.

A widely held belief is that autocratic governments have been more effective in reducing the movement of people to curb the spread of COVID-19. Using daily information on lockdown measures and geographic mobility across more than 130 countries, we find that autocratic regimes have indeed imposed more stringent lockdowns and relied more on contact tracing. However, we find no evidence that autocratic governments were more effective in reducing travel, and evidence to the contrary: compliance with the lockdown measures taken was higher in countries with democratically accountable governments. Exploring a host of potential mechanisms, we provide suggestive evidence that democratic institutions are associated with attitudes that support collective action, such as mounting a coordinated response to a pandemic.

Bioethics, Ukraine, and the Peril of Silence.

By considering the history of bioethics and international humanitarian law, Joseph J. Fins contends that bioethics as an academic and moral community should stand in solidarity with Ukraine as it defends freedom and civility.

Dominação burguesa entre o velho e o novo: a ascensão da extrema-direita no Brasil / Bourgeois domination between the old and the new: the rise of the extreme right in Brazil

Resumo: Este artigo tem como objetivo discutir o processo de ascensão da extrema-direita no Brasil, que culmina na vitória de Bolsonaro, e seu significado para a dinâmica de acumulação do capital. Em termos metodológicos, a pesquisa tem natureza qualitativa, de cunho bibliográfico, fundamentada no materialismo histórico-dialético, o qual permite capturar as múltiplas determinações do objeto sob um prisma de totalidade. Aponta como resultado que o bolsonarismo reatualiza a via autocrática de transformação capitalista no país, de modo a ajustar a dinâmica interna aos interesses de acumulação global do capital.

Abstract: This article aims to discuss the process of rise of the extreme right in Brazil, which culminates in Bolsonaro's victory, and its meaning for the dynamics of capital accumulation. In methodological terms, the research has a qualitative nature, of a bibliographic nature, based on historical-dialectic materialism, which allows capturing the multiple determinations of the object from a perspective of totality. It points out as a result that Bolsonarism re-updates the autocratic path of capitalist transformation in the country in order to adjust the internal dynamics to the interests of global capital accumulation.

Innocents, psychopaths and the imagination.

This article reflects on the manipulative practices of autocratic populist leaders in North and South America and looks at their speeches, which appeal to followers who desire love and protection, or who seek an outlet for aggressive impulses. Jung's considerations regarding the annihilation of the other, evil and the unconsciousness of the masses - manipulated for purposes of subjugation - are important for understanding the risks that threaten society. The behaviour of unscrupulous leaders seized by power complexes, reinforced by psychopathic traits in clinic and culture, creates an increasing number of victims. A lack of imagination for evil is behind the absence of malice as a defence and the idealization which opens doors to the violence of totalitarian leaders and of dominant figures in social and family relationships. The polarities evil-innocence and dominator-dominated are severely dissociated in contemporary society, endorsing Jung's vision as a warning against destructiveness.

Cet article examine les pratiques manipulatrices des leaders populistes autocrates d'Amérique du Nord et du Sud. Il étudie leurs discours, qui attirent les fidèles, c'est-à-dire ceux qui désirent amour et protection ou qui recherchent un exutoire à leurs impulsions agressives. Les considérations de Jung concernant l'annihilation de l'autre, le mal, et l'inconscience des masses - manipulées pour les asservir - sont importantes pour comprendre les risques qui menacent la société. Le comportement de leaders sans scrupules et en proie à des complexes de pouvoir, auxquels s'ajoutent des caractéristiques psychopathiques dans le sens clinique et culturel, crée un nombre de victimes qui va grandissant. Un manque d'imagination en ce qui concerne le mal est à l'origine d'une absence défensive de malveillance et d'une idéalisation qui ouvrent la voie à la violence de leaders totalitaristes et de personnages dominants dans les relations sociales et familiales. Les polarités mal-innocence et dominant-dominé sont sévèrement dissociées dans la société contemporaine, ce qui cautionne la vision de Jung en tant qu'avertissement contre la destructivité.

Este artículo reflexiona acerca de las prácticas manipuladoras por parte de líderes populistas autocráticos en América del Norte y del Sur, y atiende a sus discursos, los cuales atraen a seguidores que desean amor y protección o buscan una salida a sus impulsos agresivos. Las consideraciones de Jung sobre la aniquilación del otro, el mal y la inconsciencia de las masas - manipuladas para propósitos de dominación - son importantes para la comprensión de los riesgos que amenazan a la sociedad. La conducta de líderes inescrupulosos poseídos por complejos de poder, reforzado por rasgos psicopáticos en la clínica y en la cultura, crea un creciente número de víctimas. La ausencia de imaginación para el mal está detrás de la ausencia de malicia como defensa y de la idealización que abre las puertas a la violencia de líderes totalitarios y de figuras dominantes en las relaciones sociales y familiares. Las polaridades mal-inocencia y dominador-dominado se encuentran severamente disociadas en la sociedad contemporánea, ratificando la visión de Jung como un llamado de atención contra la destructividad.

Este artigo reflete sobre as práticas manipuladoras de líderes populistas autocráticos nas Américas do Norte e do Sul e analisa seus discursos, que atraem seguidores que desejam amor e proteção, ou que buscam uma saída para impulsos agressivos. As considerações de Jung sobre a aniquilação do outro, o mal e a inconsciência das massas - manipuladas para fins de subjugação - são importantes para entender os riscos que ameaçam a sociedade. O comportamento de líderes sem escrúpulos apreendidos por complexos de poder, reforçados por traços psicopáticos na clínica e na cultura, cria um número crescente de vítimas. A falta de imaginação para o mal está por trás da ausência de malícia como defesa e da idealização que abre portas para a violência dos líderes totalitários e das figuras dominantes nas relações sociais e familiares. As polaridades maldade/inocência e dominados/dominadores são severamente dissociadas na sociedade contemporânea, endossando a visão de Jung como um aviso contra a destrutividade.

Is History the Same as Evolution? No. Is it Independent of Evolution? Certainly Not.

History is full of violence and oppression within and between groups, and although group conflicts enhance within-group cooperation (mediated by oxytocin, which promotes parochial altruism) the hierarchy within groups ensures that spoils accrue very unevenly. Darwin suggested, and we now know, that sexual selection is as powerful as selection by mortality, and the main purpose of survival is reproduction. Male reproductive skew is greater than that among females in all societies, but the difference became much greater after the hunting-gathering era, and the rise of so-called "civilization" was everywhere a process of predatory expansion, producing kingdoms and empires where top males achieved astounding heights of reproductive success. This was shown by historical and ethnographic data now strongly confirmed by genomic science. Psychological research confirms that group identity, out-group stigmatization, leadership characterized by charisma, the will to power, narcissism, sociopathy, and cruelty, and followership characterized by hypnotic obedience, loss of individuality, and cruelty are integral parts of human nature. We can thank at least ten or twelve millennia of microevolutionary processes such as those described above, all more prominent in males than females. Followers in wars have faced a difficult risk-benefit analysis, but if they survived and won they too could increase their reproductive success through the rape and other sexual exploitation that have accompanied almost all wars. For modern leaders, social monogamy and contraception have separated autocracy from reproductive success, but only partly, and current worldwide autocratic trends still depend on the evolved will to power, obedience, and cruelty.

Political regime and COVID 19 death rate: Efficient, biasing or simply different autocracies?An econometric analysis.

The difference in COVID 19 death rates across political regimes has caught a lot of attention. The "efficient autocracy" view suggests that autocracies may be more efficient at putting in place policies that contain COVID 19 spread. On the other hand, the "biasing autocracy" view underlines that autocracies may be under reporting their COVID 19 data. We use fixed effect panel regression methods to discriminate between the two sides of the debate. Our results present a more nuanced picture: once pre-determined characteristics of countries are accounted for, COVID 19 death rates equalize across political regimes during the first months of the pandemic, but remain largely different a year into the pandemic. This emphasizes that early differences across political regimes were mainly due to omitted variable bias, whereas later differences are likely due to data manipulation by autocracies. A year into the pandemic, we estimate that this data manipulation may have hidden approximately 400,000 deaths worldwide.

Standing by: The spatial organization of coercive institutions in China.

How do authoritarian states organize their coercive institutions over space? We argue that autocrats maximize the utility of their limited coercive resources by clustering them with perceived threats in society, i.e., segments of the population that are ideologically distant and have mobilizational potential. We test this proposition using a dataset that covers the universe of police stations (N = 147,428) and religious sites (N = 115,394) in China. We find that police stations are more likely to be located within walking distance of foreign religious sites (churches) than other sites (temples), even after controlling for the estimated population within 1 km of each site and a set of key site attributes. This finding is robust to using alternative model specifications, different variable measurements, and multiple data sources. Moving beyond the clustering pattern, we also address the temporal order issue and show that the Chinese state has allocated more new coercive resources around existing foreign religious sites than native sites, i.e., after these sites are already in place. This study enriches our understanding of how autocrats rule and further opens up an emerging new methodological avenue for research on authoritarian politics.

The Perils of Leading a Democracy.

Environmental characteristics can influence aging. Democracy results in higher life expectancy for its members. However, there is a lack of research that indicates the influence of democracy on its leaders. Specifically, we examine how the nature of democracy affects the perceived aging of its leaders. In this paper, we capture perceived aging via face perception. We suggest that leaders in a democracy are perceived to age more compared to those in an autocracy. Counter to the common belief that democracies are less stressful, we find that the stress of being a leader in a democracy can have adverse effects. Study 1 uses picture pairs of 268 leaders from across the world, and participants judge age difference in years between the pictures. Study 2, a controlled study, examines downstream influences on the leader's specific attributes. Results indicate that leaders appearing to age more are more likely to avoid complex decisions, to be less charismatic, and to be less inspiring.

Political institutions and policy responses during a crisis.

How do countries with differing political institutions respond to national crises? We examine policy responses to the coronavirus pandemic in a sample of 125 countries, using high frequency data on two measures: (i) containment policies, i.e., closure of public spaces and restrictions on movement of people, and (ii) health policies, i.e., public information campaigns, testing, and contact tracing. We have four main findings. First, non-democracies impose more stringent policies prior to their first Covid-19 case, but democracies close the gap in containment policies and surpass non-democracies in health policies within a week of registering their first case. Second, while policy responses do not differ by governance systems (presidential or parliamentary), elected leaders who performed better in the last election, or face an election farther in the future, impose more aggressive policies. Third, democracies with greater media freedom respond more slowly in containment policies, but more aggressively in health policies. Lastly, more conducive norms (such as trust in the elected government) systematically predict a more aggressive policy response. Our results remain robust to allowing countries with different economic, social, and medical characteristics to have different evolution of policy responses. Our analysis therefore suggests that political institutions and the incentives of the political leaders embedded therein significantly shape the policy response of governments to a national crisis.

Dominance-Driven Autocratic Political Orientations Predict Political Violence in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) and Non-WEIRD Samples.

Given the costs of political violence, scholars have long sought to identify its causes. We examined individual differences related to participation in political violence, emphasizing the central role of political orientations. We hypothesized that individuals with dominance-driven autocratic political orientations are prone to political violence. Multilevel analysis of survey data from 34 African countries (N = 51,587) indicated that autocracy-oriented individuals, compared with democracy-oriented individuals, are considerably more likely to participate in political violence. As a predictor of violence (indexed with attitudinal, intentional, and behavioral measures), autocratic orientation outperformed other variables highlighted in existing research, including socioeconomic status and group-based injustice. Additional analyses of original data from South Africa (N = 2,170), Denmark (N = 1,012), and the United States (N = 1,539) indicated that the link between autocratic orientations and political violence reflects individual differences in the use of dominance to achieve status and that the findings generalize to societies extensively socialized to democratic values.

Political Economy of Infant Mortality Rate: Role of Democracy Versus Good Governance.

Despite numerous studies on whether democracy reduces the infant mortality rate (IMR), the empirical results remain mixed at best. In this article, I perform several theoretical and empirical exercises that help explain why and under what conditions we should expect politics to matter most for a decrease in IMR. First, I capitalize on the epidemiological view that IMR - the most commonly used indicator of health in social sciences - is better suited to reflect public health micromanagement than overall social development. Second, I theorize that autocrats have incentives to invest in health up to a certain point, which could lead to a reduction in IMR. Third, I introduce an omitted variable - good governance - that trumps the importance of a political regime for IMR: (1) it directly affects public health micromanagement, and (2) many autocrats made inroads in achieving good governance. Finally, for the first time in such research, I use a disaggregated IMR approach to corroborate my hypotheses.

Rethinking immigration policy theory beyond 'Western liberal democracies'.

How do political systems shape immigration policy-making? Explicitly or implicitly, comparative politics and migration policy theories suggest a 'regime effect' that links specific dynamics of immigration policy to liberal democracy. The literature's dominant focus on so-called 'Western liberal democracies', however, has left the 'regime effect' largely untested and research on variations and similarities in immigration policymaking across political systems strikingly undertheorized. This paper challenges the theoretical usefulness of essentialist, dichotomous categories such as Western/non-Western or democratic/autocratic and calls for a more nuanced theorizing of immigration policy-making. It proposes a two-dimensional classification of immigration policy theories, distinguishing between 'issue-specific' theories that capture immigration policy processes regardless of the political system in place and 'regime-specific' theories whose insights are tied to the characteristics of a political system. The paper also advances the 'illiberal paradox' hypothesis to explain why illiberal, autocratic states may enact liberal immigration policies. This theoretical expansion beyond the 'Western' and 'liberal' bubble is illustrated by an analysis of immigration policy-making in 21st century Morocco and Tunisia. Showing how domestic and international institutions, interests, and ideas shape immigration policy-making in Morocco's monarchy and Tunisia's democratic transition, the paper investigates the broader role of political systems in immigration politics and herewith seeks to contribute to a more general and global theorization of immigration policies.

Not all built the same? A comparative study of electoral systems and population health.

Much literature depicts a worldwide democratic advantage in population health. However, less research compares health outcomes in the different kinds of democracy or autocracy. In an examination of 179 countries as they existed between 1975 and 2012, advantages in life expectancy and infant health appear most reliably for democracies that include the principle of proportional representation in their electoral rules. Compared to closed autocracies, they had up to 12 or more years of life expectancy on average, 75% less infant mortality, and double the savings in overall mortality for most other age groups. Majoritarian democracies, in contrast, did not experience longitudinal improvements in health relative to closed autocracies. Instead their population health appeared to be on par with or even superseded by competitive autocracies in most models. Findings suggest that the principle of proportional representation may be good for health at the national level. Implications and limitations are discussed.

A case for studying country regimes in the public health model of violence.

Many national and international institutions advocate approaching violence as a problem in public health and preventive medicine, in a manner similar to the way we address other disabling and life-threatening pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Prevention by a health model requires an ecological perspective. Previous work has found evidence that economic factors, including unemployment and relative poverty, as well as political culture and values, may affect violent death rates, including homicide and suicide. Nevertheless, wider political analyses of the effects that different regimes have on these variables have been notably absent, for understandable reasons given the sheer complexity of patterns of governance throughout the world. In view of the importance and scale of the problem, and implications of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we feel it is nevertheless important to bring regime types into the conversation of factors that can influence violent death.

O fenômeno da autocracia dentro do processo grupal / The phenomenon of autocracy in a group process

Buscando levantar uma reflexão acerca da autocracia operando em sistemas grupais, foi realizada uma revisão teórica a fim de esclarecer o tema, integrada juntamente à analise do filme A Onda. A experiência autocrata retratada no filme entre professor e alunos, mostra-se compatível às teorias grupais psicanalíticas, que buscam explicar como certos tipos de grupo se formam, qual a característica de seus líderes, e quais as motivações inconscientes que delineiam o funcionamento deste grupo. O presente trabalho revisitou o governo Hitler, sendo este um dos principais modelos de autocracia totalitária da história, além de ter sido tomado como base para a constituição de grupo no filme. A teoria social-histórica e a psicanálise se integram neste trabalho em uma mesma perspectiva.

Seeking to raise a debate about autocracy in group operating systems, a literature review was performed to clarify the issue, along with integrated analysis of the film The Wave. The autocrat experience portrayed in the film between teacher and students seems compatible to psychoanalytic group theories that seek to explain how certain types of groups are formed, leader’s characteristic, and which unconscious motivations operated in this kind of group. This article revisited the Hitler government, for being one of the main models of totalitarian autocracy of history, and has been taken as the basis for the formation of the group in the film. The social-historical theory and psychoanalysis integrate this work in the same perspective.

O fenômeno da autocracia dentro do processo grupal / The phenomenon of autocracy in a group process

Buscando levantar uma reflexão acerca da autocracia operando em sistemas grupais, foi realizada uma revisão teórica a fim de esclarecer o tema, integrada juntamente à analise do filme A Onda. A experiência autocrata retratada no filme entre professor e alunos, mostra-se compatível às teorias grupais psicanalíticas, que buscam explicar como certos tipos de grupo se formam, qual a característica de seus líderes, e quais as motivações inconscientes que delineiam o funcionamento deste grupo. O presente trabalho revisitou o governo Hitler, sendo este um dos principais modelos de autocracia totalitária da história, além de ter sido tomado como base para a constituição de grupo no filme. A teoria social-histórica e a psicanálise se integram neste trabalho em uma mesma perspectiva.(AU)

Seeking to raise a debate about autocracy in group operating systems, a literature review was performed to clarify the issue, along with integrated analysis of the film The Wave. The autocrat experience portrayed in the film between teacher and students seems compatible to psychoanalytic group theories that seek to explain how certain types of groups are formed, leader’s characteristic, and which unconscious motivations operated in this kind of group. This article revisited the Hitler government, for being one of the main models of totalitarian autocracy of history, and has been taken as the basis for the formation of the group in the film. The social-historical theory and psychoanalysis integrate this work in the same perspective.(AU)

Proposta de Elementos para Diagnóstico da Síndrome do Ostracismo com Base Paragenéticana Personalidade Autocrata / Proposal of Elements to Diagnose the Ostracism Syndrome with Paragenetic Bases in the Autocratic Personality / Propuesta de Elementos para el Diagnóstico del Síndrome de Ostracismo con Base Paragenética en la Personalidad Autócrata

Neste artigo propõem-se elementos para o diagnóstico da síndrome doostracismo paragenética na personalidade autocrata. São analisados os mecanismosque movem as conscins em direção à busca do poder. Em seguida,procura-se elucidar como o poder absoluto, sem limites, do autocrata pode lhetrazer prejuízos evolutivos, e enfocam-se as auto e heterorrepercussões do mauuso desse poder. Na seqüência, são propostos sinais e sintomas das personalidadesautocratas e das conscins sindromáticas, discutindo-se a comorbidade.No mesmo item são colocados em pauta possíveis fatores dificultadores parao autodiagnóstico. No tópico Autocura, são propostos os passos seguintespara a conscin autopesquisadora chegar à remissão desta parapatologia(AU)

The article proposes elements to diagnose the paragenetic OstracismSyndrome in the autocratic personality. First, mechanisms that makeintraphysical consciousnesses move towards power are analyzed. Then thestudy seeks to understand how the unlimited absolute power of the autocratmay cause evolutionary losses for him or her. The self- and hetero-repercussionsof the improper use of this power are also analyzed. After, discussing the comorbidity,the article presents signs and symptoms of autocratic personalitiesand intraphysical consciousnesses diagnosed with the syndrome hereinproposed. In the same item, self-diagnosis limiting factors are also discussed. Inthe topic Self-cure, steps are suggested as to the remission of the parapathologyby the self-researcher intraphysical consciousness(AU)

En este artículo se proponen elementos para el diagnóstico del síndromede ostracismo paragenética en la personalidad autócrata. Son analizados losmecanismos que mueven las concins en dirección a la búsqueda de poder. Enseguida, se procura elucidar como el poder absoluto sin límites del autócratapuede traerle perjuicios evolutivos y se enfoca las auto y heterorepercusionesdel mal uso de este poder. En la secuencia, son propuestos señales y síntomasde las personalidades autócratas y de las concíns sindromáticas, discutiéndose la comorbidad. En el mismo ítem son colocados en pauta posibles factoresdificultadores para el autodiagnóstico. En el tópico Autocura, son propuestoslos pasos siguientes para la concín autoinvestigadora llegar a la remisión de laparapatología(AU)

Liberalismo: o direito e o avesso / Liberalism inside-outLibéralisme: l'endroit et l'envers

Liberalism, as manifested in self-defined liberal writings, has two sides: one, its true side, comprised of a whole body of systematically integrated proposals; the other, a patchwork quilt, an illusionist version, manipulated for political and ideological purposes. By means of a critique of eclecticism, the article aims to provide room for acknowledging non-autocratic concepts that are treated as if they were autocratic simply because they are non-liberal or anti-liberal.

Le libéralisme, tel qu'on le trouve dans les textes de ceux qui se déclarent libéraux, présente deux faces: l'une, la vraie, est formée d'un corps entier de propositions systématiquement intégrées; l'autre, un habit d'Arlequin, est sa version trompeuse, manipulée à des fins idéologiques. Au moyen d'une critique de l'éclectisme, on cherche dans cet article à reconnaître des conceptions non autocratiques qui sont traitées comme si elles étaient autocratiques du fait d'être non libérales ou antilibérales.