Liberals and Authoritarians

<p>Commentators have written at great length about left vs right, the young vs the old, ‘somewheres’ vs ‘anywheres’. But what if there’s one big divide they’re missing? Are we now a nation of liberals vs authoritarians?</p> <p>Divides in politics are nothing new – but are they deepening? And does the old left/right split still apply, or are there newer, different splits in British politics?</p> <p>The political sociologist Paula Surridge from the University of Bristol joins the RSA’s Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, to discuss.</p> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://medium.com/@psurridge/how-the-left-was-won-3e5f96399dc7">Paula's Medium post on the liberal-authoritarian divide</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-authoritarian-dynamic/7620B99124ED2DBFC6394444838F455A">The Authoritarian Dynamic by Karen Stenner</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/982933473018212353">'The thing about the “gap in British politics” is it exists, but it ain’t where most commentators think it is.'</a> - Stephen Bush from the New Statesman on Twitter, using Paula's analysis</li> <li><a href="https://politicaladvertising.co.uk/2018/05/02/why-are-there-fewer-election-posters-in-peoples-windows/">Why are there fewer election posters in people's windows?</a> - Benedict Pringle in Political Advertising</li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/RSAmatthew">Matthew Taylor on Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/mrianleslie">Ian Leslie on Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/p_surridge">Paula Surridge on Twitter</a></li> </ul> <hr /> <p>Produced by <a href="http://twitter.com/jshield">James Shield</a>, with production help from <a href="http://www.alexatack.com">Alex Atack</a> in Bristol. Artwork design by <a href="http://emilyspower.com">Emily Power</a>.</p> <p>Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).</p> <p><a href="http://www.theRSA.org">www.theRSA.org</