by Bill Eddy
Praise for Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We
Can Stop!
“Bill Eddy’s newest book is a must-read for every citizen. The book offers a
fresh, intellectually invigorating perspective on the endless political polariza-
tion and rapid rise of authoritarian leadership in America. Grounded in his
concept of the high-conflict person (HCP), Eddy exquisitely expands our un-
derstanding of the dynamics of divided politics. He presents a well-researched
historical view of how leaders (from both left and right) with authoritarian,
high-conflict personalities have emerged as dictators in numerous countries
worldwide. Eddy details a prescriptive, strategic action formula for preventing
the predictable destructive outcomes of authoritarian leaders. This book will
alarm you, inform you, and shake up your perspective—propelling you to take
action—but only reasonable and effective action!”
—Donald T. Saposnek, PhD, author of Mediating Child Custody Disputes and
coauthor of Splitting America
“Understanding why people follow and support leaders with behaviours that
are extreme and unwarranted is the topic of Bill Eddy’s new book, Why We
Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We Can Stop! In this fascinating
work, the tumultuous and horrific impact of such leaders, how such individu-
als are shaped, and why they are supported are considered in the context of
high-conflict personality and behaviours. Fundamentally, the book invites us
to consider the role of ‘Wannabe Kings’ who have managed, often despite be-
ing considered incompetent or controllable, to be elevated to high positions
and cause havoc. Importantly however, this book gives the readers, and those
grappling with ‘Wannabe Kings,’ tools to prevent their ascension and to moder-
ate the discourse that surrounds their grim reign. From the workplace to the
political space, the book will inspire us to think differently about the tactics,
behaviours, and personalities of some so-called leaders and revisit our ap-
proach to remake our future.”
—Professor Tania Sourdin, Dean and Head of School, Newcastle Law School
“Thank you for this book. I wish I’d had it at the beginning of last year when
I was running for Congress! A huge value of this book to me is to be better
able to understand people trying to tear down our democracy. I learned several
ways where I might have better persuaded erstwhile friends of mine to look
objectively at candidates rather than following slogans.”
—Chuck Eddy, moderate Republican candidate, 2018 primary for Kentucky’s 6th
Congressional District
“Personality disorders are dangerously important today, and it’s vital we under-
stand this better. We need this book.”
—Marjorie Kelly, author of The Divine Right of Capital and Owning Our Future and Executive Vice President, Democracy Collaborative
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 1
3/1/19 1:59 PM
“Author Bill Eddy has done a remarkable job of assessing the world of modern
politics and those who have learned how to use their power to manipulate to-
day’s communication tools to influence unsuspecting voters. It is a brave new
world. Bill has competently described the characteristics of many individuals
who have no business in positions of power or authority but they are because
they have learned how to work the system, to the detriment of the community,
for their own personal advantage—a sinister scheme that plays out every day.
Bill makes no distinction between partisan politicians, as his observations ap-
ply to many of those who seek power. As a long-standing member of the Re-
publican Party and the chairman of the committee to recall the former mayor
of San Diego, Bob Filner, I recognize that all of Filner’s faults and failures can
be directly attributed to the caustic characteristics so eloquently described by
Bill. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in seeing how sausage is
really made.”
—Michael J. Pallamary, PLS
“The younger generations inherit an increasingly interconnected world, one with
global problems that require international solutions. With such powerful world-
altering positions being compromised, it is of great importance to know the
warning signs and the proper response—else history will continue to repeat
itself. In discussing top-ranking politicians that cause harm and controversy,
Bill Eddy brings his expertise of psychology and advances a developing theory
of high-conflict personalities.”
—Crosby Doyle, recent graduate in political science and sustainability systems
“As a former judge and elected district attorney, I have dealt with several high-
conflict politicians and elected officials with the characteristics that Bill Eddy
describes in this book. He’s right on when he says they create unnecessary
crises and conflicts and see themselves as big heroes instead of doing their real
jobs. His suggestions for what to do make a lot of sense for reasonable politi-
cians as well as voters. This is a must-read for anyone running for or thinking
of running for election and even more important for those trying to govern.”
—Bonnie Dumanis, former judge and recently retired longtime San Diego County
District Attorney
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 2
3/1/19 1:59 PM
“Author Bill Eddy has done a remarkable job of assessing the world of modern
politics and those who have learned how to use their power to manipulate to-
day’s communication tools to influence unsuspecting voters. It is a brave new
world. Bill has competently described the characteristics of many individuals
who have no business in positions of power or authority but they are because
they have learned how to work the system, to the detriment of the community,
for their own personal advantage—a sinister scheme that plays out every day.
Bill makes no distinction between partisan politicians, as his observations ap-
ply to many of those who seek power. As a long-standing member of the Re-
publican Party and the chairman of the committee to recall the former mayor
WHY WE ELECT
of San Diego, Bob Filner, I recognize that all of Filner’s faults and failures can
be directly attributed to the caustic characteristics so eloquently described by
Bill. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in seeing how sausage is
really made.”
NARCISSISTS
—Michael J. Pallamary, PLS
AN
“The younger generations inherit an increasingly interconnected world, one with
D
global problems that require international solutions. With such powerful world-
SOCIOPATHS
altering positions being compromised, it is of great importance to know the
warning signs and the proper response—else history will
continue to repeat
AND HOW WE CAN STOP!
itself. In discussing top-ranking politicians that cause harm and controversy,
Bill Eddy brings his expertise of psychology and advances a developing theory
of high-conflict personalities.”
—Crosby Doyle, recent graduate in political science and sustainability systems
“As a former judge and elected district attorney, I have dealt with several high-
conflict politicians and elected officials with the characteristics that Bill Eddy
describes in this book. He’s right on when he says they create unnecessary
crises and conflicts and see themselves as big heroes instead of doing their real
jobs. His suggestions for what to do make a lot of sense for reasonable politi-
cians as well as voters. This is a must-read for anyone running for or thinking
of running for election and even more important for those trying to govern.”
—Bonnie Dumanis, former judge and recently retired longtime San Diego County
District Attorney
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 3
3/1/19 1:59 PM
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 4
3/1/19 1:59 PM
WHY WE ELECT
NARCISSISTS
AND SOCIOPATHS
AND HOW WE CAN STOP!
for foil stamping on spine of cloth cover
for printing on spine of paper cover or jacket
Logos for BK NO-AGENDA books
L
BILL EDDY
ogos can be any color, but any one instance of the logo
should be all the same color.
for title page
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 5
3/1/19 1:59 PM
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
www.bkconnection.com
www.bkconnection.com
www.bkconnection.com
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
www.bkconnection.com
for back of paper cover, or back flap of jacket
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
www.bkconnection.com
www.bkconnection.com
www.bkconnection.com
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc.
for back of paper cover, or back flap of jacket, with heavier
www.bkconnection.com
type for legibility if reversed against a dark background
version 5, 18Sep14
Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We
Can Stop!
Copyright © 2019 by Bill Eddy
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other
electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the
publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
1333 Broadway, Suite 1000
Oakland, CA 94612-1921
Tel: (510) 817-2277, Fax: (510) 817-2278
www.bkconnection.com
Ordering information for print editions
Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations,
associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the
Berrett-Koehler address above.
Individual sales. Berrett-Koehler publications are available through most bookstores.
They can also be ordered directly from Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802)
864-7626; www.bkconnection.com
Orders for college textbook/course adoption use. Please contact Berrett-Koehler: Tel:
(800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626.
Distributed to the U.S. trade and internationally by Penguin Random House Publisher
Services.
Berrett-Koehler and the BK logo are registered trademarks of Berrett-Koehler Publishers,
Inc.
First Edition
Hardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-5230-8527-9
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-8528-6
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-8529-3
Digital audio ISBN 978-1-5230-8531-6
2019-1
Book producer and text designer: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Cover designer: Ian Koviak, The BookDesigners
To young voters
everywhere:
May you avoid the
mistakes of your elders.
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 7
3/1/19 1:59 PM
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 8
3/1/19 1:59 PM
CONTENTS
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
PART I: How Narcissists and Sociopaths Get Elected 1
1: High- Conflict Politicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2: High-Conflict Emotional Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3: The 4-Way Voter Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4: High- Emotion Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5: The Fantasy Crisis Triad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
PART II: The Fantasy Crisis Triad Worldwide 59
6: How Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Took Over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7: Around the World Today: Russia, Hungary, the
Philippines, Venezuela, and Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
8: Here at Home: From McCarthy to Nixon to Trump
to ___________? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
9: 10 Common Mistakes with High- Conflict Politicians . . . . . . . . . 117
PART III: How to Stop High- Conflict Politicians 125
10: It’s All about Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
11: Screen Out Narcissists and Sociopaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 9
3/1/19 1:59 PM
x Contents
12: Expose Their Fantasy Crisis Triads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
13: Be as Assertive as HCPs Are Aggressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
14: Manage the Media and Fake News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
CONCLUSION: Maintaining Our Immunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
APPENDIX A: 40 Predictable Behaviors of HCPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
APPENDIX B: High- Conflict Politician Scorecard . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
APPENDIX C: Blank 4-Way Voter Split Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
APPENDIX D: Fantasy Crisis Triads—Examples Worldwide . . . . . . 177
NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 10
3/1/19 1:59 PM
PREFACE
I learned about personality disorders, including narcissists and sociopaths,
in 1980 while training to be a child and family counselor. It was an eye-
opener. I didn’t realize then that I would be teaching this information in
regard to leadership and heads of state almost forty years later.
Understanding these disorders helped me deal with the most difficult
clients I had, as well as a few people in my personal life. These people could
seem reasonable and even charming on the surface, but they repeatedly got
into conflicts with those around them that they expected me to solve. They
didn’t reflect on their parts in the problems and never changed their behav-
iors—even when they were the primary causes of the conflicts.
After a dozen years as a therapist, I decided to change professions to focus
on conflict resolution and became a lawyer in 1992. I quickly realized that
personality disorders were driving a lot of legal disputes, too—and in a bad
direction. These disorders were not understood or even recognized by most
legal professionals. Clients with such disorders had disputes that wouldn’t
settle; then their problems would grow and they would keep coming back to
court. The uninformed professionals often made things worse.
I tried to explain to them that many people with personality disorders
are stuck in a habit of blaming others, that they are always adversarial in
their thinking, and that they often have unrestrained aggressive behavior.
They need more limits, not more opportunities to blame others.
But lawyers said, “What are personality disorders? Forget about it, Bill.
You’re just saying that to win your case.” Judges said, “I fail to see the rele-
vance of this to legal disputes.” Mental health professionals said, “Don’t talk
about those disorders in court. They will stigmatize people with personality
disorders.” These professionals didn’t get it.
Eddy_WhyWeElect.indd 11
3/1/19 1:59 PM
xii Preface
I found that I couldn’t explain what was happening in five or ten minutes,
so I eventually wrote a book about it that I completed in 2003. I couldn’t find
a publisher because they said there was no market for it, that no one would
be interested in this subject. At the time, a friend who was learning how to set
up websites made one for me. With the aid of this website, I was able to self-