Presidential recognition power makes conspiracism uniquely divisive at the top

Evidence

Presidents shape the national agenda and they also have the capacity to confer recognition: who is seen as a full participant in the life of the nation, what causes and which groups get seen and noticed and honored, which stories and explanations make sense of who we are and where we are going. So when conspiracism moves into the White House, it functions to divide the country against itself. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 145

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A president’s conspiracism coerces officials into accommodation and distorts governance — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 170; Presidential conspiracism functions as willful arbitrary rule — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 312; Presidential office converts personal conspiracism into publicly authoritative claims — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 169 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A president’s conspiracism coerces officials into accommodation and distorts governance #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 170
• Presidential office converts personal conspiracism into publicly authoritative claims #expands (0.82) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 169
• Presidential conspiracism functions as willful arbitrary rule #expands (0.80) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 312
• Conspiracism causes a deeper rift than partisan polarization #expands (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 293