New conspiracism undermines legitimacy by attacking attitudes, not by proposing alternatives.

Evidence

The new conspiracists are not talking about legitimacy in the philosophic sense. They have neither a theory of government nor of justice that would tell us what kind of regime is worthy of support. The new conspiracism drains the sense that democratic government is legitimate without supplying any alternative standard. It operates at the level of citizens’ attitudes and emotions, insisting that the defining elements of political order are not worthy of support. This is delegitimation—a process of falling off from an earlier judgment that government has rightful authority. Once having meaning, value, and authority for people, democratic institutions no longer do. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 83

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines delegitimation as distinct from mistrust and as operating on attitudes rather than through counter-theory.
• XREF: connects to: Conspiracism’s purpose is delegitimizing opponents, not correcting error — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 16; 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 abandons explanatory theory and targets democratic legitimacy — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 11

Broader Connections

• A new conspiracism form drops explanation and aims at disorientation. #expands (0.88) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 49
• Conspiracism’s purpose is delegitimizing opponents, not correcting error #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 16
• New conspiracism abandons explanatory theory and targets democratic legitimacy #expands (0.80) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 11