Political Paranoia, Anti-intellectualism and Conspiracy Culture in American Politics and Society

Abstract

This thesis explores conspiratorial thinking in American politics and society. In light of recent and troubling events in the United States like the storming of Congress, conspiracy theories about the COVID19 virus and vaccines, and the rise of extreme conspiracy cults like QAnon, the thesis investigates how the Republican party has moved sharply to the right in recent years and why there is an ideological asymmetry in conspiratorial thinking.

Although many assume that belief in conspiracy theories is a new trend in American politics and society, Richard Hofstadter has provided historical evidence that conspiracy beliefs have a long history in America dating all the way back to the 1700s. However, with the emergence of the Internet, conspiracy theories are more easily spread, and the media can capitalize on the fear and paranoia of the people.

Converging Richard Hofstadter’s theories on The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Anti-intellectualism in American Life, this thesis aims to explain how and why conspiratorial thinking is such a salient concept in contemporary American politics and society