The Social Origins of Democracy and Authoritarianism Reconsidered: Prussia and Sweden in Comparison
2025-06-25
In a large social science literature, unequal rural class structures (“landlordism”) are associated with authoritarian political outcomes. This paper revisits the debate, focus- ing on the landlords’ ideological domination of the lower classes and anti-democratic attitudes in estate-dominated areas. We contrast the authoritarian landlordism model with a perspective where inequality fosters leftist mobilization if landlords fail to assert hegemony. Analyzing Prussia and Sweden–often seen as opposites in terms of their ru- ral class structures–we challenge the view of Sweden as egalitarian, showing its agrarian inequality was similar to Prussia’s. Examining within-country correlations between land inequality and electoral support for Conservatives, Nazis, and voter turnout, we find no evidence supporting the authoritarian landlordism model. Instead, our results empha- size the role of popular mobilization in Sweden and landlords’ weakening influence in Prussia.