New conspiracism lacks ideology and political theory, producing only disorientation

Evidence

The new conspiracism has no loyalty to any constitutional arrangement or program of political reform. To say that conspiracists have shed political theory is not to say that conspiracy narratives are walled off from partisan politics or without political consequences, clearly. But notwithstanding what we call the “partisan penumbra” in chapter 4, which aligns the new conspiracism with radical Republicans, the new conspiracist mind-set is not ideological. It is an exaggeration to say that “conspiracy theories have replaced ideologies at the heart of politics.” We only have to think of conflicts over taxation or health care to see that liberal and conservative, Left and Right, remain salient in politics. Yet the notion that conspiracism has replaced ideology does capture the fact that it lacks political theory, and its effects are wholly negative: disorientation and delegitimation. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 73

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines what distinguishes ‘new conspiracism’ from classic conspiracism: absence of political theory and aspiration, purely destructive effects.
• XREF: connects to: A new conspiracism form drops explanation and aims at disorientation. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 49; New conspiracism operates without theory because its sole product is delegitimation — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 82; New conspiracism offers no vision of what should replace delegitimized government — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 74 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• New conspiracism operates without theory because its sole product is delegitimation #corroborates (0.92) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 82
• New conspiracism abandons explanatory theory and targets democratic legitimacy #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 11
• New conspiracism offers no vision of what should replace delegitimized government #expands (0.82) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 74