Why do polarized societies create structural openings for authoritarian leaders?

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To understand why polarized societies create openings for authoritarian leaders, examine how rising polarization changes the political calculus and institutional norms.
Option 1: 'Because polarization raise the cost of prioritizing democracy over partisanship.' This captures the core idea that extreme polarization increases incentives to subordinate democratic norms to partisan goals. When shared norms about fair competition, accountability, and compromise are weakened, leaders can justify eroding checks and balances, manipulating institutions, or sidelining rivals as a price worth paying for partisan advantage. The higher the political price of maintaining inclusive, democratic norms in a polarized environment, the more inviting an authoritarian-style consolidation can appear to some actors.
Option 2: 'Because voters reject political parties altogether.' In most real-world scenarios, polarization affects how people align with parties, but it rarely translates into a wholesale rejection of parties themselves. Parties often become even more central as proxies for ideology and mobilization, not obsolete as a whole. This makes this option less convincing as a general mechanism tying polarization to authoritarian openings.
Option 3: 'Because democratic norms are more widely rejected in polarized societies.' There is some truth that democratic norms can be strained in polarization, but stating that they are more widely rejected across the board is an overgeneralization. Democratic norms may be eroded or tested, yet many actors still value and invoke norms like rule of law, free elections, and civil liberties. The statement is too sweeping to be the primary mechanism by which openings occur.
Option 4: 'Because elections become too competitive.' While intense competitiveness can destabilize politics and create dissatisfaction, this option frames the issue as competition itself rather than the signaling of democratic costs and norm erosion. Competitive elections can coexist with healthy institutions; the problem arises when competition undermines norms and institutions, not simply because it is highly competitive. Therefore, this option describes a symptom more than the root mechanism that enables authoritarian openings.
Overall, the strongest and most precise explanation among the choices is that polarization raises the cost of prioritizing democracy over partisanship, which reduces incentives to uphold democratic safeguards and paves the way for authoritative strategies to consolidate power.

2261 PS 1340 SEC1000 Final Exam

Why do polarized societies create structural openings for authoritarian leaders?

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