During Josip Broz Tito's long 20th-century rule, Yugoslavs grew accustomed to life under an authoritarian leader. Tito's death created a vacuum that contributed to Yugoslavia's violent breakup, and the successor Balkan states then adopted their own authoritarian leaders. Today, Serbia is governed by authoritarian president Aleksandar Vučić, who faces strong protests. Bosnia and Herzegovina has a decentralized system, but authoritarian tendencies remain strong. Croatia is an EU-member democracy yet struggles with corruption. While circumstances differ across countries, historical and cultural factors continue to support authoritarianism in the former Yugoslavia. Although religious participation in the Balkans is low, national identity remains closely linked to religious affiliation. Religious differences did not cause the 1990s wars but helped intensify them. Religion remains contentious today—for instance, Serbia's claim to Kosovo is partly rooted in major Serbian Orthodox sites there. We conducted an original survey in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia on religion and political attitudes. It includes questions measuring sympathy for authoritarian rule, allowing us to examine whether religious differences explain such attitudes in the region today. The battery mixes direct items (e.g., agreement that "Under some circumstances, an authoritarian government and strong leadership may be preferable to democratic ones") with subtler ones (e.g., "Our leaders know what is best for us" and "It is necessary to use force against people who are a threat to authority"). We will analyze how religious affiliation and practice relate to support for authoritarianism in this key European region.