TRADITIONAL PRACTICES AND SUPPORT FOR THE STRONGMAN
Pelizzo R. Kuzenbayev N.
December 2023SAGE Publications Ltd
World Affairs
2023#186Issue 4951 - 977 pp.
The new modernization theory has suggested that the pervasiveness of traditional values has a clear impact on the quality of democratic governance. In this contribution to this special issue on the political consequences of traditional beliefs, we explore whether and to what extent the pervasiveness of traditional values and beliefs has a detectable impact on authoritarian attitudes. Specifically, we analyze the relationship between the support for a “strongman” and the acceptability of traditional practices for Muslim respondents from 27 jurisdictions. The results suggest that those who believe that traditional practices, such as the use of sorcery, appealing to jinn, and to the souls of ancestors, are acceptable under Islam are more likely to prefer a strongman to democracy. Notably, we found that respondents’ religiosity does not significantly affect their support for a strongman, raising questions about how accurately traditionality has been measured so far.
Authoritarian Attitudes , Authoritarian Rule , Cultural Change , Democracy , Democratization , Islam , Modernization , Political Culture , Political Preferences , Religion and Politics , Traditional Beliefs , Traditional Practices , Voting Behavior
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Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Graduate School of Public Policy
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