Characterizing opponents as criminal enemies is a step toward regime delegitimation

Evidence

This is delegitimation: representing the opposition candidate as a criminal and the opposition party as a whole as a dangerous enemy to be not only defeated electorally but in fact neutralized. This is not party politics as usual. It is a critical step in the undoing of a democratic system of parties and partisanship. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 210

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines delegitimation as the shift from electoral defeat to neutralization of the opposition.
• XREF: connects to: Delegitimation turns mistrusted opponents into public enemies, unlike ordinary mistrust. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 86; Siege regimes criminalize opposition and cross-societal solidarity as treason — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 677; Prior polarization and weakened parties preconditioned conspiracism’s delegitimating effects — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 104 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Siege regimes criminalize opposition and cross-societal solidarity as treason #exemplifies (0.78) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 677
• Prior polarization and weakened parties preconditioned conspiracism’s delegitimating effects #exemplifies (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 104