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Conspiracy Narratives and Conspiracy Mentality: Addressing the key challenges of current comparative empirical research.

Comparative Politics
Contentious Politics
Democracy
Elections
European Politics
Extremism
Political Competition
Political Methodology
Political Participation
Political Parties
Political Psychology
Political Violence
Populism
Public Policy
Political Sociology
Identity
Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Quantitative
Euroscepticism
Liberalism
Mixed Methods
Protests
Public Opinion
Survey Research
Parties and elections
Empirical
P006
Reinhard Heinisch
Universität Salzburg
Anne Küppers
Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena
Tuesday 09:00 – Friday 17:00 (20/05/2025 – 23/05/2025)
Despite growing attention, there is still a lack of coherent understanding of the impact conspiracy theories (CT) and conspiracy mentality on democracy. The workshop tackles this by addressing five key challenges: (1) Understand the phenomenon from a political science perspective (complementing existing research, eg in psychology), (2) better theorise distinguishing conspiracy narratives from related concepts, ie populist discourses, (3) better operationalise conspiracy-related concepts including political behaviour/ scenarios related to, but not fully engaging with CT; (4) better understand the impact of CT on voting, party competition, democratic engagement, and policy implementation at the national, international, and supranational levels.
Studies have shown both supply-side and demand-side conspiracy theories to have harmful political and social consequences. 'Walking hand in hand with populism' (Castanho et al. 2017, p. 423), conspiracy narratives continue to challenge liberal democracy, help radical actors reframe their agendas (Taggart & Pirro 2021), and shape public discourse in the post-truth era (McIntyre 2018). They work against the common good (Keeley 1999) and negatively influence policy-making, such as in climate policy (Biddlestone et al. 2022) or health policy in a pandemic (van Mulukom et al. 2022). They serve to undermine trust in liberal democratic institutions and also contribute to political violence (Vegetti & Littvay, 2021). However, other fields have a longer research tradition than political science (20-23; Plenta, 2020), and the latter has often focused only on specific countries (eg Krouwel et al., 2017; van Prooijen et al., 2018). This makes it difficult to systematically test theories about why people believe in conspiracies or what political views are associated with them. The effects are often indistinguishable from other factors that commonly influence political participation (Pilch et al., 2023). Research on the political consequences of conspiracy beliefs is still emerging and frequently produces contradictory results. It is often geographically limited, typically to Western democracies (Walter & Drochon, 2022; Bordeleau, 2023).Studies have also struggled with limited measures due to a lack of data and new theorising (Czech, 2022; Pantazi et al., 2021; Reiser & Küppers, 2022). Thus, more work is needed to better understand this interaction.
1: What are the most important political factors explaining the emergence/impact of conspiracy mentality/theories?
2: How should we conceptualize and measure the effect of conspiracy related concepts?
3: How can we meaningfully compare the role of CT across polities, including Western and non-Western countries?
4: How can we better assess the relationship between conspiracy-related concepts on the supply and demand side?
5: How can we better explain the impact of conspiracy narratives on democratic development and public policy.
Title Details
Grievances, Conspiracy Theories and Social Exclusion in Northern Europe View Paper Details
The effects of crisis concerns on conspiracy beliefs and populist attitudes View Paper Details
Beyond Individual Cognition: How Institutions Shape the Prevalence of Conspiracy Theory Beliefs View Paper Details
Do not only blame the radical right populists: On the weaponization and mainstreaming of conspiracy theories in Spain. View Paper Details
Why do politicians share conspiracy theories on social media? The role of ideology, incumbency, and electoral cycle View Paper Details
A matter of establishment: The role of populist attitudes and conspiracy mentality in populist voting View Paper Details
Framing the Environment: Populist and Conspiratorial Narratives in Radical Right Party Campaigns in Italy and France View Paper Details
Democracy Attitudes in Europe in the grip of the Far-right and Crises: The Role of Conspiracy Theories in the Political Inclinations of Germany's Political Center View Paper Details
Populist Conspiracy Framing: The Impact of Party Cues in Explaining Conspiracy Beliefs View Paper Details
From White Genocide to Terrorgram: Analyzing the Bratislava Shooter’s Manifesto in the Context of Conspiratorial and Extremist Narratives View Paper Details
Bridging Populism and Conspiracy in Radical Right-Wing Politics. A comparison between SVP and FPÖ View Paper Details
Left-Right Political Orientations and the Belief in Conspiracy Theories. A Comparative Analysis of Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland View Paper Details
The metapolitical mainstreaming of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory and its democratic consequences View Paper Details
How Alternative Media and Electoral Defeat Fuel Conspiracy Beliefs View Paper Details
Conspiracy belief, conspiracy mentality and democratic culture in Europe. A comparative study View Paper Details
Influencers and mainstreaming conspiracy theoiries View Paper Details
From Berlin to Washington, and Brasília? Assessing QAnon as a Bridging Narrative for Anti-Government Extremism View Paper Details
"Truth or Hyperreality? Rethinking Conspiracy Theories in the Post-Truth Era" View Paper Details