Chapter 2: Group Norms and Identities in Societal Transitions: From Democracy to Dictatorship and Back Again

As has become his habit, Moghaddam (this volume) presents an innovative contribution which draws on past interdisciplinary research to address an important social phenomenon, the shift between democracy and dictatorship, which has received virtually no research attention within social psychology. It is fascinating to work through his latest ideas and contributions, which we summarize briefly below. As researchers in group processes and intergroup relations, it is immediately easy to see the relevance of our own theories and approaches to the topic of democratic transitions. In the second part of our chapter, we develop an analysis of how these can be integrated with Moghaddam’s work. Finally, we have enjoyed using the impetus of Moghaddam’s ideas to develop a framework for how group norms and group identities may be integrated into the study of transtions from democracy to dictatorship and back again. Our approach brings together some of the themes articulated in the critiques, including the importance of factional leadership, intergroup conflict, norms and time (FLINT). A summary of the framework is given in Table 2.1, following our review and critique of Moghaddam (this volume).