The main difference between moderates and authoritarians lies in lies with each type’s commitment to pragmatism on the one hand and ideology on the other. Moderates tend to resist extremes along any dimension and tend to eschew ideology for practical thinking on issues. By contrast, authoritarians are willing to use the state’s violence apparatus for ideological ends–even if those ends are impractical.

Because moderates can “lean” in any of the other four directions, authoritarians and moderates only have similarities to the extent that moderates lean authoritarian on a given issue.