Intellectual Entrepreneurs Against Democracy: Authoritarian Theorists in Modern America

Abstract

Ideological reaction in the West against the perceived dominance of liberalism has grown in recent decades. Although often observed as diverse forms of electoral populism or increasing policy and rhetorical illiberalism by political parties and governments, this reaction has also attracted diffuse cadres of intellectual elites and new, ‘dissident’ thinkers. Among various strands of competing illiberal intellectual projects, perhaps the most surprising has been the emergence in the United States of a growing set of explicit theorists of political authoritarianism. This article reviews three modern ‘authoritarian theorists,’ Curtis Yarvin (“Mencius Moldbug”), Charles Haywood, and “Bronze Age Pervert” (BAP), noting predecessor thinkers and historical analogies that populate their evolving proposals, as well as assessing the relative complexity of their positive programs for an authoritarian future. American theorists of authoritarianism for now remain niche figures, largely consigned to the online world and the realm of heterodox letters. Yet the particularly open and entrepreneurial nature of these intellectual projects has found a growing audience among the discontented, especially in internet fora and social media, and their connections to political activism has similarly expanded. It is likely that a ‘first-mover’ advantage exists for this current cohort of American authoritarian theorists, which may set the stage for more sophisticated authoritarian intellectual entrepreneurs in the coming decades.

Keywords: authoritarian theorists; authoritarianism; illiberalism; ideology; political theorists