Authoritarianism gains ground by targeting educated voters. Discrediting expertise in academia and science weakens democratic institutions.
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Authoritarian movements gain traction by targeting and undermining institutions that uphold democracy, often by appealing to less-educated voters. The piece draws parallels between the recent election in Poland, where a nationalist candidate gained support from less-educated, working-class voters while losing among the highly educated, and Donald Trump’s campaign against elite universities and scientific research in the United States. This pattern has been observed in other countries, including Romania and Hungary, and even in the UK’s Brexit vote. The core strategy, according to the author, is to disempower institutions that generate expertise by making knowledge itself suspect. This process, which involves attempts to control funding and sideline academic freedom, aims to replace reasoned governance with rule based on popular emotion and grievance. The author concludes that an educated citizenry remains the most vital defense against authoritarianism, making the attack on education a central tactic for such movements.
