They Are Selling Themselves Out to the Enemy! The Content and Effects of Populist Conspiracy Theories

Abstract Despite the alleged discursive affinity between populist rhetoric and conspiracy theories, we know too little about how populist conspiracies are communicated by politicians, and how these messages activate individual-level support for populist ideas. In this setting, this article reports o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of public opinion research 2021-04, Vol.33 (1), p.38-56
Main Author: Hameleers, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affinity
Communication
Conspiracy
Content analysis
Extremism
Individual differences
Politicians
Populism
Radicalism
Rhetoric
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Summary:Abstract Despite the alleged discursive affinity between populist rhetoric and conspiracy theories, we know too little about how populist conspiracies are communicated by politicians, and how these messages activate individual-level support for populist ideas. In this setting, this article reports on a qualitative content analysis of leading (radical) right-wing populist politicians’ self-communication (Trump and Wilders) and an experiment in which the central content features of populist conspiracies are manipulated. The main findings indicate that populist conspiracy theories activate populist attitudes more than mere exposure to populist ideas. Together, this article shows how conspiracies are framed in populist actors’ communication, and how these populist conspiracy frames can fuel support for populist ideology in society.
ISSN:0954-2892
1471-6909
DOI:10.1093/ijpor/edaa004