The ideological shadow of authoritarianism

dc.contributor.authorDINAS, Elias
dc.contributor.authorNORTHMORE-BALL, Ksenia
dc.date.accessioned2020-02-10T16:07:52Z
dc.date.available2020-02-10T16:07:52Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.descriptionFirst published online: July 7, 2019en
dc.description.abstractHow do the labels left and right take on meaning in new democracies? Existing explanations point to the universality of the left-right scheme or, reversely, emphasize regionally dominant social cleavages. We propose an alternative legacy-focused theory based on two observations: Dictatorships are not ideologically neutral and are negatively evaluated by most citizens and elites after democratization. These premises lead us to expect that when the authoritarian regime is associated with the left (right), the citizens of a new democracy will display an antileft (antiright) bias in their left-right self-identification. We test this hypothesis across Latin American and European new democracies. We find significant bias, which in the case of new democracies following left-wing regimes is concealed due to intercohort heterogeneity. Although older cohorts denote a positive bias, cohorts born after Stalin's era denote negative bias against the left. Consistent with our expectations, repression exacerbates this bias whereas indoctrination mitigates it. Finally, we look at how these biases apply to party preferences. The findings have important implications for understanding authoritarian legacies and party system development in new democracies.en
dc.description.sponsorshipJohn Fell Fund, University of Oxforden
dc.description.sponsorshipBritish Academyen
dc.identifier.citationComparative political studies, 2020, Vol 53, No. 12, pp. 1957-1991en
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/0010414019852699
dc.identifier.endpage1991
dc.identifier.issn0010-4140
dc.identifier.issn1552-3829
dc.identifier.issue12
dc.identifier.otherUNSP 0010414019852699
dc.identifier.startpage1957
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/66032
dc.identifier.volume53
dc.language.isoen
dc.orcid.putcode1814/81011:136546585
dc.publisherSageen
dc.relation.ispartofComparative political studiesen
dc.subjectLeft-righten
dc.subjectAntidictator biasen
dc.subjectIndoctrinationen
dc.subjectPostcommunismen
dc.subjectLatin Americaen
dc.titleThe ideological shadow of authoritarianismen
dc.typeArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
eui.subscribe.skiptrue
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-2153-6077
person.identifier.other31601
relation.isAuthorOfPublication86d19cef-2608-401c-9c96-f14d07e8a60d
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery86d19cef-2608-401c-9c96-f14d07e8a60d
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