What are the social origins of illiberal rule? This presentation investigates current theories about the roots of illiberal attitudes, specifically with regard to state-church relations, democracy, the economy, ethnic and sexual minorities. Using new experimental data from four Central European countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), the study finds that respondents overwhelmingly support for teaching Christianity in schools, dissatisfaction with democracy, economic paternalism, state regulation of ethnic relations, opposition to same-sex marriage. However, these attitudes are nuanced insofar as they indicate support for illiberal policies without explicit xenophobia, homophobia and religious intolerance. For instance, while most respondents do not hold a particularly hostile view towards the LGBT community, they do overwhelmingly oppose same-sex marriage. Similarly, with regard to state-church relations, most respondents do not want the church to meddle in politics, but a significant proportion of respondents in all four countries do support a Christian-based curriculum in schools. By offering a rigorous examination of original experimental data on the social roots of these attitudes, the study aims to shed some new light on major debates about the origins of illiberalism.
