Conspiratorial accusations against a party rise the longer it holds power

Evidence

This likely indicates that Americans find living with power asymmetry more uncomfortable as time goes on. Anecdotally, 9/11 Truther theories began to strongly resonate not immediately after 9/11/2001, but in the beginning of Bush’s second term. And President Obama’s administration seemed to become especially prone to conspiratorial scandals in its second term. This is an interesting finding, but because of the small sample size (we have only four instances where parties have maintained control of the White House for more than eight years) one ought to be cautious about drawing conclusions from it. — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 734

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Political losing raises a group’s propensity for conspiratorial reasoning rather than causing it — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 756; Conspiracy beliefs stay stable while conspiracy talk shifts with power — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 749; Novel bipartisan threats are the sole driver of conspiracy talk surges — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 584 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Political exclusion drives the mob toward conspiratorial readings of power #expands (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 311
• Partisan identity skews which conspiracist claims people credit #qualifies (0.72) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 36
• Power asymmetry blocks trust because the weaker party cannot credibly threaten exit #expands (0.72) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 481