The Good Father Syndrome: Why Strongmen Still Seduce
A Discussion with Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey Kopstein
April 28, 2025
31 min
165
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1,412 of 1,730
Episode 165 · April 28, 2025
The Good Father Syndrome: Why Strongmen Still Seduce
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American Politics Episodes Around April 28, 2025
Episode 1,412 of 1,730 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
The Good Father Syndrome: Why Strongmen Still Seduce
Summary
In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey speaks with Stephen Hanson and Jeffrey Kopstein, co-authors of The Assault on the State: How the Global Attack on Modern Government Endangers Our Future (Polity Press, 2024). In this conversation, they discuss how today’s right-wing movements, from the United States to Hungary, are waging a new form of politics that undermines the very foundations of the modern, rules-based state. Drawing on Max Weber’s concept of “patrimonialism,” Hanson and Kopstein explore how these leaders erode public trust, demolish impersonal bureaucracies, and replace rational governance with personal loyalty and whim. Along the way, they examine the role of conspiracy theories, the rise of “deep state” narratives, and the uneasy alliances connecting libertarians, Christian nationalists, and advocates of an all-powerful executive.
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