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13 January 2015

Is Anti-government Sentiment Actually about How One Views Authority?

Hypothesis:
Those who hold traditional views of authority (TVA) will be more likely to have negative views of government.

Theoretical explanation:
Those who hold TVA will be apt to think of their government wielding this kind of authority. Ironically, those who hold TVA will be the least accepting of being the subjects of traditional authority (e.g. a family patriarch resisting being controlled by others). Thus, those who hold TVA will be more apt to see the state as an unjustly-imposed burden. On the other hand, those who hold rational-legal (i.e. bureaucratic) or professional-client views of authority will be apt to think of their government wielding this kind of authority, will be more likely to see that authority as just (or at least not inherently unjust), and will be more apt to see the state as (at least a potential) ally or, even more, as representative of the collective.

Test:
One could generate indices of questions to measure views of authority and attitude toward government and look for correlations.

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