Orosz, Gábor and Salamon, János and Enyedi, Zsolt and Whitefield, Stephen and Krekó, Péter (2026) Cracks in the System. A democratic inoculation intervention that enhances recognition of authoritarian weaknesses. Working Paper. MORES Working Paper Series, 5. (Unpublished)
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Abstract
Modern authoritarian systems often consolidate through gradual, hard-to-detect shifts, yet can collapse rapidly once cracks in regime stability become visible. Building on current democratic inoculation research—and drawing on gradual norm internalisation and mechanisms of drastic and rapid changes—we developed two brief (<15 min), narrative-based interventions designed to heighten citizens’ sensitivity to authoritarian rhetoric; based on past experiences with democratic transgressions. In a preregistered survey experiment with 1,175 Hungarian adults, matched to national demographics among regular internet users, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) Gradual Build-Up, illustrating the slow erosion of rule of law and normalisation of democratic backsliding; (2) Cracks, emphasising early warning signals of authoritarian weakening (e.g., elite defection, propaganda fatigue); or (3) a matched non-political control. All interventions employed expert opinions and historical examples, paired with a “saying-is-believing” self-persuasion task, and combined with the logic of the “democratic inoculation” mechanisms. Results revealed a consistent pattern: the Cracks intervention reliably decreased agreement with authoritarian statements and increased recognition of authoritarian tone, concern about authoritarianism, moral outrage towards the perpetrator of a democratic transgression, and perceived democratic threat, with reasonable effect sizes. It also improved recognition of early instability cues and heightened negative moral affect towards the government following an existing restrictive legal proposal. The effects of the Gradual Build-Up intervention were weaker and less consistent across outcomes. Importantly, partisanship, populist attitudes, and cognitive reflection did not moderate any intervention effects, suggesting a broad effect on sensitivity to authoritarian cues and moral emotions that can reach people on both sides of the political spectrum.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Working Paper) |
|---|---|
| Title in English: | Cracks in the System. A democratic inoculation intervention that enhances recognition of authoritarian weaknesses |
| Keywords in English: | Democratic backsliding, Authoritarian rhetoric, Democratic inoculation, Wise interventions, Self-persuasion |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General) |
| Divisions: | Institute for Political Science |
| Research funder: | European Union (EU), MORES project, grant no. 101132601 |
| Depositing User: | Enikő Meiszterics |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Jun 2026 08:22 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Jun 2026 10:46 |
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| URI: | https://openarchive.tk.mta.hu/id/eprint/668 |
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