"The Washington Roundtable discusses Donald Trump's recent "explosion of the ego" and tendency toward megalomania, and they consider how the evolution of autocratic regimes in history can help us to predict how the rest of his Presidency may unfold. They are joined by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, who is the author of " Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present.""
"The group looks at how, as autocrats' popularity decreases-as Trump's has recently in the polls-these figures develop paranoia and entrench themselves in untenable positions, a phenomenon called "autocratic backfire." "The key is that they end up constructing a kind of echo chamber. And so they overestimate their own abilities," Ben-Ghiat says. "They start to believe their own propaganda." This week's reading: Tune in wherever you get your podcasts."
Donald Trump exhibits an explosion of ego and a tendency toward megalomania. Historical patterns of autocratic regimes provide a framework to anticipate potential trajectories during his presidency. Declining popularity commonly triggers paranoia and increased entrenchment among autocratic leaders. That phenomenon, labeled autocratic backfire, drives leaders into untenable positions and riskier posture. Autocratic backfire often produces an internal echo chamber that causes leaders to overestimate their abilities. Leaders entangled in such echo chambers may begin to believe their own propaganda, further insulating decision-making from reality and escalating authoritarian practices.
Read at The New Yorker
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