Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent — American Conspiracy Theories
27 published claims from this book.
- Collaboration so seamless it defies accounting invites conspiratorial explanation
- Conspiracies refer to actual events while conspiracy theories are unverified accusations.
- Conspiracy beliefs stay stable while conspiracy talk shifts with power
- Conspiracy theories are accessible ways to speak truth to power
- Conspiracy theories are best contained socially, not legally
- Conspiracy theories are necessary lymph, not sickly disease, of politics
- Conspiracy theories are often more complex than official accounts.
- Conspiratorial accusations against a party rise the longer it holds power
- Conspiratorial belief is mainstream across American demographics.
- Conspiratorial beliefs function as group security early-warning systems.
- Conspiratorial predispositions partition evenly across both parties
- Elite rhetoric substantially raises public conspiracy talk
- Elites can publicize conspiracies but cannot invent them from nothing
- Letter-writers may be unrepresentative of the broader public
- Marginalized groups retain conspiracy theories longer than groups with variable fortunes.
- Neutral terminology enables study of conspiracy theories without adjudication.
- Novel bipartisan threats are the sole driver of conspiracy talk surges
- Out-of-power domestic groups generate most conspiratorial talk
- Out-of-power groups always drive conspiracy talk as winners disengage
- Polarization does not statistically predict conspiracy talk
- Political losing raises a group’s propensity for conspiratorial reasoning rather than causing it
- Published behavior reveals opinion resonance more than private polling does
- Some conspiracy theories may strengthen political immune systems
- Studying conspiracy beliefs itself triggers defensive backlash from believers.
- Studying conspiracy theories does not itself confer conspiratorial skill
- Successful conspiracies go unnoticed and are hard to estimate.
- Unfounded beliefs fade over time but reason is a thin crust over passion.