Normative Regime Support and Affective Underpinnings of Authoritarian Responsiveness - Experimental Evidence from the CIMER Platform in Turkey

How do electronic portal that enable more direct online communications with the executive affect attitudes towards authoritarian regimes and social polarisation? In this paper, we analyse the impact of different treatments connected to CIMER – an electronic portal that allows citizens in Turkey to submit petitions/complaints, drop messages for the president, and suggest policies and programs- on different types of normative support for authoritarism. To estimate the effect on different attitudinal and quasi-behavioral outcomes, we conduct an online survey experiment with a sample of the general population (currently in the field) We hypothesize that such participatory institutions are more than just devices of social delivery; instead, they also serve as political technologies that reinforce affective/emotional connection between the regime/leader and the people and drive normative support through affirmation and vindication of core support groups. By examining the affective underpinnings of authoritarian responsiveness, we aim to contribute - results are to be defined as the experiment is currently running- to scholarships on instrumental and diffuse support for regime types, and the role of emotions in autocratic mass support.