Elected partisans are the effective channel for speaking truth to conspiracy.

Evidence

Distinguishing warranted from unwarranted conspiracist claims is further complicated by the way conspiracism aligns with partisan identity. Democrats are more likely to say that Trump colluded with Russia to cripple Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Republicans are more likely to say that the media are manufacturing fake news to bring down the president. We find ourselves navigating a political world buffeted by warring conspiracist claims. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 36 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In addition to speaking truth, there is what we call “enacting democracy”: the scrupulous and explicit adherence to the regular forms and processes of public decision-making. We are talking about a deliberate pedagogical response to the process of delegitimation. Enacting democracy makes government legible. That is, it gives citizens reasons to understand and appreciate the meaning and value of institutional integrity and ordinary democratic processes—exactly what the new conspiracism attacks. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 44 (#builds-on, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Representatives legitimize constituent fears by sympathetically acknowledging them — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 324; Conspicuous adherence to democratic process can re-legitimate government — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 44; Novel bipartisan threats are the sole driver of conspiracy talk surges — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 584 (+5 more)

Related

• Conspiracism’s corrosive work can be mitigated by coordinated truth-speaking across partisans. (similarity 0.87)
• Only elected officials can effectively counteract conspiracy for partisan voters (similarity 0.85)
• Partisan identity skews which conspiracist claims people credit (similarity 0.85)
• Conspicuous adherence to democratic process can re-legitimate government (similarity 0.84)
• Conspiracist claims now align symmetrically with partisan identity on both sides (similarity 0.84)
• Party officials uniquely positioned to rebut conspiracism instead acquiesce for electoral survival (similarity 0.82)
• Conspiracism ultimately destroys its own partisan allies as well as its targets (similarity 0.81)
• Compliant elite silence, not belief, enables conspiracism to delegitimize democracy (similarity 0.81)
• Representatives counter conspiratorial beliefs only through trusted identification, not evidence (similarity 0.81)
• Framing parties as conspiracies constitutes an attack on democracy itself (similarity 0.80)
• Countering conspiracism requires wisdom, not just factual honesty (similarity 0.80)
• Elite reticence about conspiracism erodes public trust in whether representatives mean what they say (similarity 0.80)
• New conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory in kind (similarity 0.79)
• New conspiracism abandons explanatory theory and targets democratic legitimacy (similarity 0.79)
• The new conspiracism is uniquely and asymmetrically a right-wing phenomenon. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Partisan identity skews which conspiracist claims people credit #corroborates (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 36