Editors: Edward Dunbar & Milton Bennett
Chapters and abstracts as of January 16, 2026

Chapter One: The New Authoritarianism, Edward Dunbar and Milton Bennett
In this chapter and through the contributions of ourselves and other authors in this volume we will examine some psychological, social, historical, economic, and epistemological factors underpinning authoritarianism and the rise of anti-democratic regimes in the current century. Building from a brief history of authoritarianism and a speculative overview of new authoritarianism in the 21 st century, the chapter outlines a general evolutionary view of psychic and social factors in the development of autocratic leadership. Authoritarian regimes have utilized a variety of ideological justifications, including religious doctrine, populism, and ultranationalism. Themes of nostalgia and national purity, which can lead to intergroup hatred, are frequently employed to establish authoritarian dominance.
The status of the 2024 US presidential election is examined in terms of socio-demographic predictors of authoritarian candidates and as an example of the worldwide backsliding phenomena of democratically choosing to adopt autocratic governance. The evolution of authoritarianism in the 21 st century is then highlighted in terms of the role of emergent technology to socialize and control consumers as well as the new leadership of the modern oligarchs who fund anti-democratic political movements. This is further discussed in terms of ecological risk, resource scarcity, and the threat of authoritarian governance eliminating the traditions of a civil society. The concluding section speculates on the position of new authoritarianism in the larger sweep of human experience.

Chapter Two: New Authoritarianism Through the Lens of Evolutionary Epistemology. Milton Bennett
Through a lens of evolutionary epistemology, authoritarianism can be seen as a once-viable but now maladaptive form of social organization. This chapter considers two implications of this view. One is the idea that the human consciousness underlying most human social behavior is itself an evolutionary development. Understanding how our unique ability to use metaphoric language has translated into social adaptation provides an insight into why the authoritarian manipulation of language and suppression of self-consciousness so profoundly affects our social world. Secondly, the chapter considers how the more recent evolution of scientific knowledge paradigms – Newtonian positivism and Einsteinian relativism – have created extraordinary adaptive demands on a human social consciousness rooted in shared myth and the reification of self and others. The failure of adaptation by large swathes of populations to these
scientific paradigms and the resultant feeling of “unfitness” is likely contributing to the epistemological backlash underlying new authoritarianism. Some new epistemological adaptations associated with the Quantum paradigm are suggested as forms of resistance to archaic authoritarianism.

Chapter Three: The Hate Element in Authoritarian Regimes. Brian Levin

Chapter Four: Contemporary Authoritarianism, the Metamorphosis of Governance and its Impact upon Citizen Wellbeing. Edward Dunbar
An analysis of 174 sovereign states in 2024 assessed the characteristics and consequences of authoritarian governance. Data was derived from international non-governmental organizations. Authoritarianism was classified via the Freedom House democracy ratings and the hierarchical categorization of autocracy levels with the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI). Dimensions of autocratic control the “Four Horsemen” – dismantling of free elections, suppression of political pluralism, erosion of press freedom, and the undermining of judicial independence – were examined.

Additionally, five indicators of government efficiency – gross domestic product, poverty levels, the risk of state-sponsored genocide, prevalence of government corruption, and participation in international treaties were recorded. Of particular interest was the effect of autocratic practices on citizen wellbeing, assessed through both subjective self-reports and objective indicators spanning health, education, and income. Three central questions guided this inquiry: Prevalence: How widespread are authoritarian control mechanisms across global governance systems? Impact: Do authoritarian or anti-democratic regimes affect economic performance, public safety,
and international engagement? Psycho-social Consequences: What are the societal and psychological repercussions of authoritarian rule on citizens? Findings revealed that authoritarian regimes in 2024 were consistently associated with higher levels of corruption compared to liberal democracies. “Hard autocracies” were more likely to exert extreme media control and exhibited heightened genocide risk. Notably, the curtailment of judicial independence correlated with diminished citizen happiness and increased violence against civilian populations. These patterns underscore a troubling trajectory: as authoritarian regimes endure, the erosion of civil liberties and
the socio-economic costs of one-party control appear to rigidify and intensify forms of authoritarian control. This raises urgent concerns for international governance, human rights, and long-term international stability.

Chapter Five: The New Authoritarianism in Israel: Netanyahu's Populist Playbook. Shahar Gindi
This chapter examines the utilization of populist strategies within Israeli governance under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu. Focusing on the period since 2015 and until 2025, it analyzes how specific tactics, including the framing of crises, the construction of national identity, and the manipulation of historical narratives, have been employed. The research aims to contribute to a broader
understanding of the dynamics of the new authoritarianism and its impact on democratic processes, using Israel as a case study. The chapter considers the implications of these strategies for governance and social cohesion.

Chapter Six: The Lives of Others: How Extreme Wealth Curates Authoritarianism. Edward Dunbar
The heightened aggregation of wealth by a fractional segment of the world community and the resurgence of authoritarianism have co-occurred during the past quarter-century. This examination considers the political motivations and anti-democratic policies of individuals – oligarchs – of extreme wealth. The relationship of extreme wealth to political activity was examined for the Forbes 50 of 2024. Three areas of research are reviewed in this regard: (1) experimental psychology, (2) socio-economic studies, and (3) AI-generated models of wealth aggregation. The political ideology of extreme wealth is considered in terms of motivational theory in the
shaping of their opposition to liberal democracy. A profile of the authoritarian oligarch is characterized by an obsessive pursuit of extrinsic reward, the dissociation from other persons, and the active support of regimes that engage in hard forms of control
to gain economic gain. The psychological consequences of extreme wealth for society are considered in terms of two threshold issues that indicate the heightened risk of autocracy.

Chapter Seven: Traditionalism as a Trojan of New Authoritarianism. Renato Foschi
The chapter describes the faces of the new authoritarianism connected with contemporary populism, considered a reaction to the silent revolution that began in the late 1960s. This reaction, especially in the US and Russia, has led to a political culture characterized by nostalgia and traditionalism. The return to a glorious past is touted as the solution to the economic and social crises of contemporary times.
The chapter then locates the historical origins of this palliative idea of the past and tradition in the political thought of Julius Evola, an Italian far-right ideologue who, surprisingly, is now translated into English and considered a “master” of the international alternative right. The connections between traditionalism and new forms of authoritarianism in the theoretical frame that Eco called Ur-Fascism or
eternal fascism are thus analyzed.

Chapter Eight: The Hydra of the New Authoritarian Leadership in Their Own Words. Edward Dunbar & Vincent Berardi
The impact of authoritarian political leaders in the twenty-first century is substantial. Dunbar (2024) proposed a historically based typology of authoritarian leaders (AL), these were described as the charismatic, the thug, and the situational authoritarian. The examination of authoritarian persuasion employed this typology with Pennebaker’s’ Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). The
methodology was employed in the analysis of 44 influential authoritarian politicians. LIWC variables were computed for authenticity, emotional tone, clout, analytical, and need for power for the subject prior to and while holding power.
These variables were examined in terms of the three leader types; these findings were then analyzed via ChatGPT to assess (1) the persuasion tactics of the leader, (2) follower perceptions, and (3) follower perceptions under conditions of malevolence. These were examined in relationship to initiating domestic programs of genocide and initiation of warfare. In a subsequent analysis, results of
exploratory factor analysis were computed for all 93 of the LIWC variables. Results identified three factors of authoritarian persuasion. These factors revealed significant differences for —, —- and –. The factor for ___ revealed the greatest risk for commission of atrocities under their regime, as well as starting armed conflict with another nation-state.

Chapter Nine: The Political Economy of the New Authoritarianism – A Relational Perspective. Josef Wieland
Authoritarian political and economic systems and their leadership pose a significant challenge to the existence and performance of liberal democracies and their relational economies in a networked, regio-global economic order. This article attempts to shed light on some aspects of the new authoritarianism from the perspective of relational economics. First, it highlights the differences and commonalities among authoritarian economic and social systems. Although there are differences between these systems, they also share some commonalities, such as political and state dominance by oligarchic elites aimed at exercising monopoly power and rent-seeking. Second, four governance structures involved in the emergence and development of authoritarian economies are presented and discussed. Third, the central role of cultural patterns and the agency of collective actors in the emergence and diffusion of authoritarian ideology and practice are discussed. The article concludes with some reflections on current and future challenges, as well as some insights into possible future research agendas.

Chapter Ten: Anti-Authoritarian Ethics. Richard Evanoff
This chapter attempts to formulate an anti-authoritarian approach to ethics in response to current trends towards a new authoritarianism. The first part distinguishes between legitimate and illegitimate forms of autonomy, defined as the ability to make free decisions in the absence of external control, as well as between legitimate and illegitimate forms of authority, which may constrain self-
determination. The second part develops a relational view of ethics, which suggests that since humans live in the context of the transactions they have with each other, ethics can be constructed at a variety of levels to deal with mutually shared problems. An anti-authoritarian version of discourse ethics is then proposed, which sees norms as having legitimacy only if they are co-constructed
through an open and inclusive deliberative process in which all those who are affected by the adoption of a given norm are able to participate in a free and uncoerced manner.

Afterword: Author Commentary
This is an edited collection of transcribed oral and written comments made by chapter authors about the overall focus of the volume and the connection between their own chapters and those of other authors.