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Donald Trump has defied expectations left and right in his race for the presidency, leaving many members of the media and his political party asking: How did this happen? 

How did a candidate that so many dismissed become the Republican frontrunner? How do the controversies surrounding him seem to bolster his base, rather than reduce it?

The answer may lie with a specific group of people identified by political scientists as authoritarian voters. 

 on Vox, defines authoritarian voters as "a group of people who have a particular set of values: They are especially concerned with maintaining social order, and they're very concerned about anything that seems like social change and chaos."

"That means that over the past few decades when this country has seen a lot of social change — with civil rights, women's rights, a lot of changes in the demographics of this country — that has seemed very stressful and frightening to authoritarian voters."

This authoritarian voting bloc isn't new, but their allegiance with the Republican Party is. Where authoritarian voters were once spread across the parties, in recent years "they've been filtering into the Republican party," Taub said, because of the party's stance on traditional values.

 to discuss the mindset of authoritarian voters and their role in the current presidential race. They were joined by 

, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota.

"One of the things that political scientists have found with authoritarians is that when they feel stressed because of a time of social change or because of some other threat — terrorism, or something like that — they look to what we would think of as a kind of strongman leader," Taub said. "Someone who promises to do whatever it takes to make them feel safe again — maybe 'make the country great again.'"

"And what is very typical of those leaders is that they target what the researchers call 'out groups.' They will identify some group of people — it could be immigrants, in this case, also Muslim-Americans are very much a target of Donald Trump — and they identify them as a threat and promise to do whatever it takes to keep people safe from them." 

Rao echoed the idea that Trump's rhetoric appeals to people who are in a state of mental stress.

"There is a segment in the marketplace that is responsive to Mr. Trump's rhetoric, his appeal, and his language, because for many, many years, they have been told that they are under threat," Rao said. "Finally there is someone who is speaking to them at that level and saying: 'I will take care of you, I will take of 

, trust me, believe me.' Very simple, declarative sentences that are black-and-white, and that are interpretable by people who are in this state of anxiety and fear."

For the full discussion on Donald Trump's appeal to voters and the rise of the authoritarian voter base, use the audio player above.

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How do you explain Donald Trump's meteoric rise? The answer may lie with a particular group of people identified by political scientists as authoritarian voters.

How do you explain Donald Trump's meteoric rise? The answer may lie with a specific group of people identified by political scientists as authoritarian voters. Amanda Taub, a correspondent for Vox, and Akshay Rao, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota, join MPR News guest host Luke Burbank, to discuss.

Authoritarian voters and the rise of Donald Trump

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