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Why We Vote For Villains
Why do ordinary voters empower bad leaders—and why do political movements so often elevate extremists?
In this episode of The Rational Nationalist, Lee Ellis uses optimal-arousal theory to explain the paradox of political passion: emotion drives people to act, but too much passion clouds judgment, rewards certainty over competence, and helps the personalities most likely to abuse power rise to the top.
The answer is not apathy. It is emotional discipline: fiery hearts guided by cool heads.
The skinny
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