Conspiracist rejection of shared facts destroys policy accountability

Evidence

First, absent common ground, without the possibility of a shared set of facts, standards of verification, and modes of argument, the reasons underlying decisions become illegible. Policy-making is always messy and often a matter of “muddling through,” but conspiracism makes it even more chaotic and difficult to hold to account. Misinformation, falsehood, and sheer fabulation seep in. The terrain of politics becomes quicksand. There is no mechanism for self-correction. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 273

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the governance failures traced in ‘America’s Constitution’ and ‘The Making of Modern Egypt’ chapters about illegible decision processes. — connects to: Politicizing science defeats even well-designed interventions meant to boost accuracy. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 153; Political action requires shared common sense that conspiracism destroys — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 292; New conspiracism dissolves shared perceptions of political reality — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 373

Broader Connections

• New conspiracism dissolves shared perceptions of political reality #corroborates (0.90) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 373
• Political action requires shared common sense that conspiracism destroys #corroborates (0.88) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 292