Donald Trump is closer to locking up the Republican nomination for president after big wins in Tuesday's primaries. He has incredible support from a party that's grown increasingly disappointed in their established leaders, yet still seeks the traits we have traditionally sought in a leader.
Donald Trump is seen as charismatic, powerful, and strong enough to take on everyone who stands in opposition to his goals, including the president of Mexico.
Yet our image of strong leaders has always been more of a romantic ideal than a reality. And most people know it in their hearts, even as they support the concept of leadership. American companies spend almost $14 billion on leadership training seminars to promote our veneration of leaders.
Republican voters have become increasingly in favor of authoritarian leaders over time. They want someone who comes up with simple solutions to complex problems, and who can also remove the social and physical threats they feel are upending their world.
But some say we need to be careful. Stanley Milgram, a former psychologist at Yale University, showed us in his famous experiments from over 50 years ago that people with authoritarian traits but no malice, can be convinced to behave destructively against other people they consider a threat.
GUESTS:
- Joshua Rothman - Writer and editor for The New Yorker
- Marc Hetherington - Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University; co-author with Jonathan Weiler of Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics
- Stephen Reicher - Professor of Psychology, University of St. Andrews
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Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, Chion Wolf, and Greg Hill contributed to this show.
