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Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Daniel C. Hellinger

    1. International Relations, Webster University, St. Louis, USA

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  • Makes the case that Trump’s presidency demands that conspiracies and conspiracy theories be taken more seriously by political scientists and academics, not simply discarded as social paranoia
  • Argues that conspiracies are connected in important ways to fake news, political corruption, surveillance of citizens, and other threats to democracy in the age of Trump
  • Finds paranoid conspiracy theories are as likely to be peddled by elites as by populist movements

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Conspiracy Theory Versus Theorizing Conspiracy

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 1-37

  3. Paranoia, Conspiracy Panic, and the Regime of Truth

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 39-77

  4. Trumpism, Fake News and the “New Normal”

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 79-103

  5. Suspicious Minds, the 2016 Election and Its Aftermath

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 105-139

  6. Globalization, Populism, Conspiracism

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 141-184

  7. Dark Money and Trumpism

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 185-219

  8. The Deep State, Hegemony, and Democracy

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 221-274

  9. Conclusion: Conspiracy Theories and Political Decay

    • Daniel C. Hellinger
    Pages 275-285

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 287-300
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Authors and Affiliations

  • International Relations, Webster University, St. Louis, USA

    Daniel C. Hellinger

About the author

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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