Yep, it certainly isn't the environment they're attempting to conserve.

From my reading of history, authoritarianism is the defining feature of the extremes of any part of the political spectrum. Why? Because the average person, almost by definition, is a moderate within the context of their own society. Once an extreme ideology takes power, it either has to use authoritarian techniques to maintain power, or it will lose power fairly quickly if the people are allowed a say. That's true regardless of political stripe, which is why democracy is so important.