This book focuses on the constant tension between democracy and conspiratorial behavior in the new global order. It addresses the prevalence of conspiracy theories in the phenomenon of Donald Trump and Trumpism, and the paranoid style of American politics that existed long before, first identified with Richard Hofstadter. Hellinger looks critically at both those who hold conspiracy theory beliefs and those who rush to dismiss them. Hellinger argues that we need to acknowledge that the exercise of power by elites is very often conspiratorial and invites both realistic and outlandish conspiracy…mehr
This book focuses on the constant tension between democracy and conspiratorial behavior in the new global order. It addresses the prevalence of conspiracy theories in the phenomenon of Donald Trump and Trumpism, and the paranoid style of American politics that existed long before, first identified with Richard Hofstadter. Hellinger looks critically at both those who hold conspiracy theory beliefs and those who rush to dismiss them. Hellinger argues that we need to acknowledge that the exercise of power by elites is very often conspiratorial and invites both realistic and outlandish conspiracy theories. How we parse the realistic from the outlandish demands more attention than typically accorded in academia and journalism. Tensions between global hegemony and democratic legitimacy become visible in populist theories of conspiracy, both on the left and the right. He argues that we do not live in an age in which conspiracy theories are more profligate, but that we do live in an age in which they offer a more profound challenge to the constituted state than ever before.
Daniel C. Hellinger is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Webster University, USA. He has previously published: ¿Paranoia, Conspiracy, Hegemony in American Politics¿ in Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of Suspicion in the New World Order (2003) and ¿Conspiracy Theory and the Paranoid Style¿ in American Political Culture: An Encyclopedia (2015), and co-authored The Democratic Façade (2nd edition, 1991). His most recent books are Comparative Politics of Latin America: Democracy at Last? (2014), Global Security Watch: Venezuela (2012), and, as co-editor and contributor, Bolivarian Democracy in Venezuela: Participation, Politics and Culture (2011).
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Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 Introduction: Conspiracy Theory versus Theorizing Conspiracy
Return of the Paranoid Style in American Politics
What We Know from Survey Research
Conspiracy and Conspiracy Theory Defined
The Paranoid Style and Populism
Trumpian Conspiracy Theories
An Outline of the Book
Chapter 2 Paranoia, Conspiracy Panic, and the Regime of Truth
I'm Not a Conspiracy Theorist, but...
The Shadow of Hofstadter
The Regime of Truth
Fake News
Historians, Social Scientists and "Proving" Conspiracy Theory
A Typology of Conspiracy Theories
JFK, 9/11 and the Regime of Truth
Consequences and Summing Up
Chapter 3 Trumpism, Fake News and the "New Normal"
Populism, Paranoia and Celebrity
Fake News
Mueller's Conspiracy Theory and the Media
Conspiracy Theory, Fusion, and the Alt-Right
Conspiracism and Threats to Democracy
Chapter 4 Suspicious Minds, the 2016 Election and Its Aftermath
Reading Voters' Entrails
Populism and Election 2016
Fake News and Russian Intervention in Election 2016
The Year of Voting Dangerously
Partisan Conspiracy Beliefs
Social Immobility and Unresponsive Elites
Globalization, Economic Distress and the Vote
Suspicion and the Vote
Chapter 5 Globalization, Populism, Conspiracism
Suspicious Minds in the New World Order
Immigrants, Nativism, and Trump
Wall Street and Monassen PA
Transnational Capitalism and the Nation State
Nationalism, Economic Discontent, Geographical Stress in Election 2016
Populism versus Transnational Capitalism
Conclusion: The Great Disrupter
Chapter 6 Dark Money and Trumpism
Money, Politics and Trump
Dark Money and Billionaire Cabals
Show us the Dark Money Trail
Conspiracy Panic and Muckraking
Corruption in a Republic of Money
Dark Money as a Sphere of Conspiracism
Conspiracy or Just Plain Old Interest Group Politics?
Chapter 7 The Deep State, Hegemony, and Democracy
What is the Deep State? What is it Not?
Parapolitics
The Conspiratorial Roots of National Security and Institutions
Donald Trump and the Deep State
Conspiracy Fiction, Conspiracy Reality
Parapolitics and Blowback
Parapolitics, the Deep State and Russiagate
Chapter 8 Conclusion: Conspiracy Theories and Political Decay
