Why is America so obsessed with conspiracy theories?

Neo-PopulismIncumbent Psychology & Neo-Mercantilism
Written By Brian Klaas

The United States is a nation obsessed with conspiracy theories. Among rich democracies, we’re an outlier — a country where millions of people are convinced that something is lurking in the shadows and nothing is as it seems.

In recent years, that conspiracism has infiltrated the political mainstream, transforming one kooky wing of the Republican Party into its political core. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a crackpot who has peddled lies about Jewish space lasers and QAnon, is far more representative of the Trumpian MAGA base than, say, Mitt Romney or Mitch McConnell, who are derided as RINOs partly because they won’t indulge the extreme lunacy that has taken over their party…

Brian Klaas (Project Lead, Neo-Populism) for Public Notice.

Brian Klaas

Dr. Brian Klaas is an Associate Professor in Global Politics at University College London and a columnist for The Washington Post. Klaas is also a frequent television commentator and political consultant. He is also the author of the forthcoming book CORRUPTIBLE: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us and host of the Power Corrupts podcast. Dr. Klaas is an expert on democracy, authoritarianism, US foreign policy, American politics more generally, political violence, and elections. He has previously authored three books: ‘The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy’ (Hurst & Co, November 2017); ‘The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy’ (Oxford University Press, December 2016); and ‘How to Rig an Election’ (Yale University Press, co-authored with Professor Nic Cheeseman; May 2018).

https://brianpklaas.com/
Previous

Lying Again? The Many Questions for Boris Johnson Over his Support for Ukraine
Next

Iran’s ideological war on Britain