Abortion, Gay Rights & Authoritarianism: Paul Goren on His New Book
What drives American voters—positions on social issues or political ideology? Professor of political science Paul Goren tackles this complex question in his newest book, Stronger Issues, Weaker Predispositions: Abortion, Gay Rights, and Authoritarianism, published by Cambridge University Press, Elements in Political Psychology. Goren discusses the book, which argues that division over abortion and LGBT rights drive division between parties more than authoritarianism.
This short book argues that scholars and pundits have overestimated the role authoritarianism plays in the minds of American voters. At the same time, scholars and pundits have actually underestimated the central role that feelings about abortion and gay rights play in public opinion.
The typical take is that authoritarians oppose abortion and LGBT rights and gravitate toward the Republican Party. I argue that pro-life, anti-gay Americans adopt right-wing values and gravitate toward the GOP. In addition, once we take views of abortion and gay rights into account, authoritarianism does little to explain partisan attachments in the general public. More broadly, visceral conflict over abortion and LGBT rights, not authoritarianism, has driven partisan conflict and division in the American public for the past three decades.
Paul Goren
Visit the Cambridge University Press website to learn more about Stronger Issues, Weaker Predispositions: Abortion, Gay Rights, and Authoritarianism.
This story was edited by Max Pritchard, an undergraduate student in CLA.
