Worldview: The Myth of the Strongman

Newspapers throughout the United States are imploring voters to think twice before casting a vote for real estate mogul and reality-TV star Donald Trump. Many voters are distraught over stagnation, the lack of fulfilling jobs and opportunities. Many hope a forceful personality can deliver change. “We've entered an era in which strongmen are in vogue and democracy is taking a hit worldwide,” writes Trudy Rubin for the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Dictators are the cause of the current Mideast chaos, not its solution. In their decades of misrule, Hussein, Gadhafi, and the Assad family kept themselves in power via oil revenues and repression. They never built the institutions that could make a state run or create jobs for the huge youth bulge - especially when oil prices plummeted.” Authoritarian leaders are adept at removing sources of information and education that empower all and distracting citizens from the real causes for social problems. Many politicians have flourished by arguing that government is an enemy with broken institutions. David French, writing for the conservative National Review, points to a belief of the nation’s founding fathers, that only a good and moral citizenry could manage affairs with democracy while corrupt societies turn to authoritarian leaders. He concludes that voters’ choices reflect the nation’s character. – YaleGlobal