Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them

Conspiracy theories are inevitable in complex human societies. And while they have always been with us, their ubiquity in our political discourse is nearly unprecedented. Their salience has increased for a variety of reasons including the increasing access to information among ordinary people, a pervasive sense of powerlessness among those same people, and a widespread distrust of elites. Working in combination, these factors and many other factors are now propelling conspiracy theories into our public sphere on a vast scale. In recent years, scholars have begun to study this genuinely important phenomenon in a concerted way. In Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them, Joseph E. Uscinski has gathered forty top researchers on the topic to provide both the foundational tools and the evidence to better understand conspiracy theories in the United States and around the world. Each chapter is informed by three core questions: Why do so many people believe in conspiracy theories? What are the effects of such theories when they take hold in the public? What can or should be done about the phenomenon? Combining systematic analysis and cutting-edge empirical research, this volume will help us better understand an extremely important, yet relatively neglected, phenomenon.

Joseph E. Uscinski is an associate professor of Political Science in the University of Miami College of Arts & Sciences, where he teaches courses on American politics. He is coauthor of American Conspiracy Theories (Oxford, 2014) and author of The People's News: Media, Politics, and the Demands of Capitalism (New York University Press, 2014). He received his Ph.D. in American Politics from University of Arizona, his M.A. from University of New Hampshire, and his B.A. from Plymouth State College.

Preface
List of Contributors

Chapter 1 Down the Rabbit Hole We Go!
Joseph E. Uscinski

Chapter 2 The History of Conspiracy Theory Research: A Review and Commentary
Michael Butter and Peter Knight

Section I What is a Conspiracy Theory?

Chapter 3 What We Mean When We Say "Conspiracy Theory"
Jesse Walker

Chapter 4 Conspiracy Theory: The Nineteenth-Century Prehistory of a Twentieth-Century Concept
Andrew McKenzie-McHarg

Chapter 5 Media Marginalization of Racial Minorities: "Conspiracy Theorists" in U.S. Ghettos and on the "Arab Street"
Martin Orr and Ginna Husting

Chapter 6 Conspiracy Theories and Philosophy: Bringing the Epistemology of a Freighted Term into the Social Sciences
M R. X. Dentith

Section II How Do Conspiracy Theorists and Non-Conspiracy Theorists Interact?

Chapter 7 On the Democratic Problem of Conspiracy Theory Politics
Alfred Moore

Chapter 8 The Politics of Disruption: Social Choice Theory and Conspiracy Theory Politics
Matthew D. Atkinson and Darin DeWitt

Chapter 9 Learning About Conspiracy Theories: Experiences in Science and Risk Communication with the Public about the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster
Jay T. Cullen

Chapter 10 In Whose Hands the Future?
Stephan Lewandowsky

Chapter 11 Conspiracy Theory Phobia
Juha Räikkä and Lee Basham

Chapter 12 Conspiracy Thinking, Tolerance, and Democracy
Steven M. Smallpage

Section III Are Conspiracy Theories "Anti-Science"?

Chapter 13 Don't Trust the Scientists! Rejecting the Scientific Consensus "Conspiracy"
Josh Pasek

Chapter 14 Conspiratorial Thinking and Dueling Fact Perceptions
Morgan Marietta and David C. Barker

Chapter 15 The Conspiracy Theory Pyramid Scheme
Ted Goertzel

Section IV What is the Psychology of Conspiracy Theorizing?

Chapter 16 Conspiracy Theory Psychology: Individual differences, Worldviews, and States of Mind
Michael J. Wood and Karen M. Douglas

Chapter 17 Conspiracy Rumor Psychology
Nicholas Difonzo

Chapter 18 The Truth is Around Here Somewhere: Integrating the Research on Conspiracy Beliefs
Preston R. Bost

Section V What Do Conspiracy Theories Look Like in the United States?

Chapter 19 Conspiracy Theories in U.S. History
Kathryn S. Olmsted

Chapter 20 Polls, Plots, and Party Politics:Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary America
Adam M. Enders and Steven M. Smallpage

Chapter 21 How Conspiracy Theories Spread
Darin DeWitt, Matthew D. Atkinson, and Drew Wegner

Section VI What Do Conspiracy Theories Look Like Around the World?

Chapter 22 Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories in Great Britain and Europe?
Hugo Drochon

Chapter 23 Why the Powerful (in Weak States) Prefer Conspiracy Theories
Scott Radnitz

Chapter 24 Conspiracy Theories in Post-Soviet Russia
Ilya Yablokov

Chapter 25 The Collective Conspiracy Mentality in Poland
Wiktor Soral, Aleksandra Cichocka, Michal Bilewicz, Marta Marchlewska

Chapter 26 The Conspiratorial Style in Turkish Politics: Discussing the Deep State in the Parliament
Türkay Salim Nefes

Chapter 27 The Hidden and the Revealed: Styles of Political Conspiracy Theory in Kirchnerism
Tanya Filer

Section VII How Should We Live with Conspiracy Theories?

Chapter 28 Conspiracy Theories and Religion: Superstition, Seekership, and Salvation
David G. Robertson and Asbjørn Dyrendal

Chapter 29 The Credulity of Conspiracy Theorists: Conspiratorial, Scientific, and Religious Explanation Compared
Brian L. Keeley

Chapter 30 Empowerment as a Tool to Reduce Belief in Conspiracy Theories
Jan-Willem van Prooijen

Chapter 31 Conspiracy Theories for Journalists: Covering Dubious Ideas in Real Time
Joseph E. Uscinski
References
Index