I'm not sure how this is new. There is a fantastic online book called the Authoritarians written by a U of M prof discussing this issue and how it affects the religious and political right in the US.
Essentially there are a group of people who through enviromental factors have been conditioned to believe what authorities tell them. Then there is a group of people with personalities that desire to control the for lack of a better term sheep.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/