Predicting Willingness to be Allegiant to Authority

Our paper contributes to the discourse on allegiance to authority and the factors that predict<br>willingness to defer to authority. Following former Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s<br>normative construction of allegiance, we refer to allegiance to authority as an inclination to<br>acquiesce and support the administration without question nor criticism at all times. We examined<br>the possible predictors of allegiance to authority, such as the public’s affirmation of President<br>Duterte; perceived alignment with the people and the divine; levels of political efficacy, fatalism,<br>and political cynicism; and the diversity of information and discourse environments. We analyzed<br>data from an online survey conducted in late October to mid-November 2021 among 2,000<br>randomly selected participants from an online panel. The models presented in our study<br>consistently revealed that the socio-psychological propensity of aligning with the majority as well<br>as belief in the President’s benevolence and confidence on the President’s ability to handle issues<br>are consistent significant predictors of willingness to be allegiant to authority. Hence, advocates<br>of an assertive civic culture may look into the factors that influence these predictors if they intend<br>to push back on the public’s allegiance tendencies.