Book contents
- Assault on Democracy
- Assault on Democracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Theory: The Double Deterrent Effect and the Bounds of Rationality
- 3 The Soviet Precedent and the Wave of Isomorphic Emulation Efforts
- 4 The Suppression of Isomorphic Emulation Efforts and Its Limited Regime Effects
- 5 Persistence of the Communist Threat and Rising Appeal of Fascism
- 6 The German Exception: Emulating Full-Scale Fascism
- 7 The Spread of Fascist Movements – Yet of Authoritarian Regimes
- 8 Conservative–Fascist Relations and the Autocratic Reverse Wave
- 9 The Edges of the Autocratic Wave: Battered Democracy and Populist Authoritarianism
- 10 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - Theory: The Double Deterrent Effect and the Bounds of Rationality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2021
- Assault on Democracy
- Assault on Democracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Theory: The Double Deterrent Effect and the Bounds of Rationality
- 3 The Soviet Precedent and the Wave of Isomorphic Emulation Efforts
- 4 The Suppression of Isomorphic Emulation Efforts and Its Limited Regime Effects
- 5 Persistence of the Communist Threat and Rising Appeal of Fascism
- 6 The German Exception: Emulating Full-Scale Fascism
- 7 The Spread of Fascist Movements – Yet of Authoritarian Regimes
- 8 Conservative–Fascist Relations and the Autocratic Reverse Wave
- 9 The Edges of the Autocratic Wave: Battered Democracy and Populist Authoritarianism
- 10 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 2 systematically presents the book’s theoretical approach. After acknowledging the contribution of various causal factors to democratic breakdown during the interwar years, it highlights the fundamental role of the double deterrent effect. Because established elites saw both revolutionary Communism and its most potent antidote, counterrevolutionary fascism, as serious dangers, they used their preponderant power capabilities to impose conservative authoritarianism as a safeguard in many countries. These threat perceptions and dictatorial reactions were driven by basic mechanisms of cognitive psychology. With their deviation from standard rationality, heuristic shortcuts and asymmetrical loss aversion gave rise to striking misperceptions and overreactions, which help account for the proliferation of autocracy and the horrendous, “unnecessary” bloodletting of the 1920s and 1930s.
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- Assault on DemocracyCommunism, Fascism, and Authoritarianism During the Interwar Years, pp. 39 - 74Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021