Delegitimizing authority is the common core of all conspiracy theories

Evidence

All of the conspiracy theories examined in this chapter—the birthers, the claims about Obama’s alleged Muslim identity, Obama as the Antichrist, the supposed fraudulence of bin Laden’s death—collectively illuminate a motif common to virtually all conspiracy theories, namely, the delegitimization of authority. Conspiracy theories reject the received view of events and of the world, erecting in its place some counternarrative according to which the received view is false, misleading, or evil. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 922

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Conspiracy theories are accessible ways to speak truth to power — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 842; Over-elaborating a conspiracy produces an undefeatable adversary — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 1070; For conspiracy believers, the conspiracy is an axiom, not a conclusion — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 812 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy theories are accessible ways to speak truth to power #contradicts (0.88) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 842
• Conspiracy theories are necessary lymph, not sickly disease, of politics #contradicts (0.85) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 841
• Over-elaborating a conspiracy produces an undefeatable adversary #expands (0.75) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 1070
• For conspiracy believers, the conspiracy is an axiom, not a conclusion #expands (0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 812