For the Atlantic, Sally Satel wrote about a surprising new study conducted by Thomas H. Costello and a team of fellow researchers at Emory University. Costello’s study has proven a phenomenon that was presumed by social psychologists to be nonexistent - the concept of left-wing authoritarianism. Specifically, Costello’s study found that
Authoritarians vs. totalitarians. Right-wing and Left-wing people can be authoritarians. However generally it's against the grain of Right-wingers to be totalitarians. They are the folks who like a more decentralized government. To be totalitarian in the political sense is concentrated centralized government. That is Left-wing. Dictators, likewise, are by that definition Left-wing.
In this day (contrasted with the days of the French Monarchy and the nobility on the other side) the true understanding of the spectrum of political Left and Right should be through the lens of predilection towards and advocacy of centralized control of the government (states' rights, etc.). The Left prefers centralization, the Right less so.
I would add this to the mix
https://coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2021/10/understanding-the-difference-between-authoritarianism-and-totalitarianism.html
Authoritarians vs. totalitarians. Right-wing and Left-wing people can be authoritarians. However generally it's against the grain of Right-wingers to be totalitarians. They are the folks who like a more decentralized government. To be totalitarian in the political sense is concentrated centralized government. That is Left-wing. Dictators, likewise, are by that definition Left-wing.
In this day (contrasted with the days of the French Monarchy and the nobility on the other side) the true understanding of the spectrum of political Left and Right should be through the lens of predilection towards and advocacy of centralized control of the government (states' rights, etc.). The Left prefers centralization, the Right less so.