The initial story was overhyped, but I fear this reading is too generous.
It shows that if you press people on what dictatorship really means, they get cold feet.
But they're drawn to the idea in principle & struggle to see the point of constraints.
That's a problem that goes far beyond "Gen Z" 🧵
It shows that if you press people on what dictatorship really means, they get cold feet.
But they're drawn to the idea in principle & struggle to see the point of constraints.
That's a problem that goes far beyond "Gen Z" 🧵
Reposted from
The Policy Institute
NEW: Just 6% of Gen Z say they actually want a dictator – not over half, as has been recently claimed.
Our study finds only a very small minority of 13-27-yr-olds really feel this way, when their views and interpretations are tested with different questioning approaches 🧵⬇️
Our study finds only a very small minority of 13-27-yr-olds really feel this way, when their views and interpretations are tested with different questioning approaches 🧵⬇️
Comments
The allure of the "strong man", smashing through constraints to "get things done", is hardly limited to the young.
Many of us call for PR and banning political donations and suchlike.
But right-wing media speaks directly to anti-democratic ideologies with its militant "will of the people" demands.
Yet the same idea emerges from this report. Those who want a dictator also want elections.
They're imagining a "democratic dictator" who'll carry out their will
It's a terrible misapprehension, but it has a longstanding appeal to people who think of themselves as democrats.
People who believe in "the principle of democracy", but "lack confidence in the delivery of democratic institutions", may be actively drawn to autocratic forms of democracy: "strong men" who promise to carry out "the will of the people".
Well-functioning parliaments *do* slow things down.
They *do* encourage argument & opposition.
Courts *do* sometimes stop things that a majority of the people want.
We have to remake the case for why that's a good thing for a democracy.
Parliament and courts could slow down everything 5 years, block 50% of all proposals, and still “deliver” things every single year, year after year.
If people want “delivered outcomes” and Parliament focuses on explaining “delivery times”, they’re not listening.
In 2019, much older journalists declared that "Parliament has forfeited its right to remain in existence".
A PM in his 50s castigated a "broken Parliament" and joked about violence against MPs.