Conspiracy Theories Are Not Only for Election Losers. Anti-system Parties and Conspiratorial Distrust in Poland

• Authors: Czech Franciszek
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Using data from a nationally representative survey in Poland, this study looks at the links between post-election attitudes, ideology and conspiratorial distrust toward public sphere. The reference point is an argument made by Joseph Uscinski and Joseph Parent. They provide evidence that conspiracy theories are more popular among election losers in the United States. Data presented in the article shows a limitation of the argument and the special role of anti-system party in the Polish parliamentary election of 2015. Therefore, the more comprehensive understanding of conspiracy theories within the field of political science is discussed.

Keywords

EN

conspiratorial distrust; conspiracy theory; anti-system party; election; political support; Poland

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
• Journal: Polish Political Science Yearbook
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 4 (47)
• Pages: 663-675

Contributors

author

Czech Franciszek

• Jagiellonian University

References

• Anderson, Ch.J., LoTempio, A.J. (2002). “Winning, Losing and Political Trust in America”. British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 32, No. 2, 335 – 351.
• Anderson, Ch.J., Guillory, Ch.A. (1997). “Political Institutions and Satisfaction with Democracy: A Cross- National Analysis of Consensus and Majoritarian Systems”. American Political Science Review, Vol. 91 No. 1, 66 – 81.
• Anderson, Ch.J., Tverdova, Y.V. (2003). “Corruption, Political Allegiances, and Attitudes Toward Government in Contemporary Democracies” American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 47(1), 91 – 109.
• Banducci, S.A., Karp, J.A. (2003). “How Elections Change the Way Citizens View the Political System: Campaigns, Media Effects and Electoral Outcomes in Comparative Perspective”. British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 33(3), 443 – 467.
• Cappocia, G. (2002). “Anti-system Parties. A Conceptual Reassessment”. Journal of Theoretical Politics, Vol. 14 (2), 9 – 35.
• (2015). Przepływy elektoratów w wyborach parlamentarnych 2011 i 2015 (Komunikat z badań 166/2015) Retrieved from: https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2015/K_166_15.PDF
• Chang, E., Chu, Yun-han, Wu, Wen-chin. (2014). “Consenting to Lose or Expecting to Win? Inter-temporal changes in voters winner–loser status and satisfaction with democracy”. In Jaques Thomassen (Ed.), Elections and Democracy: Representation and Accountability (232 – 253). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Czech, F. (2006). “Populizm a teorie spiskowe”. Politeja, 2 (4), 419 – 433.
• Czech, F. (2014). Struktura teorii spiskowych. Antologia. Kraków: Nomos.
• Czech, F. (2015). Spiskowe narracje i metanarracje. Kraków: Nomos.
• Dahlberg, Stefan; Linde, Jonas. (2017) “The dynamics of the winner–loser gap in satisfaction with democracy: Evidence from a Swedish citizen panel” International Political Science Review, Vol. 38 (5), 625 – 641.
• Dunleavy, P., Diwakar, R. (2013). “Analysing Multiparty Competition in Plurality Rule Elections” Party politics, Vol. 19 (6), 855 – 886.
• Esaiasson, P. (2011). “Electoral Losers Revisited – How citizens react to defeat at the ballot box”. Electoral Studies, Vol. 30(1), 102 – 113.
• Fenster, M. (2008). Conspiracy Theories. Secrecy and Power in American Culture, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Grzesiak-Feldman, M. (2016). Psychologia myślenia spiskowego. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
• Hofstadter, R. (1996) [1964]. The Paranoid style in American Politics and Other Essays. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Inglehart, R. (1987). “Extremist Political Positions and Perceptions of Conspiracy: Even Paranoids Have Real Enemies”, In Graumann, C.F., Moscovici, S. (Eds.), Changing Conceptions of Conspiracy, 231 – 244, New York: Sringer-Verlag.
• Knight, P. (2000). Conspiracy Culture. From Kennedy to the X Files. London: Routledge.
• Korzeniowski, K. (2014). Polska paranoja polityczna. Źródła, mechanizmy i konsekwencje spiskowego myślenia o polityce. Warszawa: Instytut Psychologii PAN.
• Krouwel, A., Kutiyski, Y., van Prooijen, J.-W., Martinsson, J. & Markstedt, E. (2017). “Does Extreme Political Ideology Predict Conspiracy Beliefs, Economic Evaluations and Political Trust? Evidence From Sweden”. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, Vol. 5(2), 435 – 462.
• Kułakowska, M., Borowiec, P. & Ścigaj, P. (Eds.). (2016). Oblicza kampanii wyborcych 2015 roku. Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ.
• Michalak, Bartłomiej. (2011). “The Anti-Systemness of The Protest Parties”. Polish Political Science Yearbook Vol. 40 (2011), 110 – 121.Popper, Karl R. (2013) [1945]. The Open Society and Its Enemies. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press.
• Robins, S., Post, J. (1997). Political Paranoia: The Psychopolitics of Hatred. New Haven: Yale University.
• Sartori, G. (1976). Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Siek, A. (2015). Najbardziej antysystemowym ugrupowaniem jest PiS. Retrieved from: http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114871,17874421,_Najbardziej_antysystemowym_ugrupowaniem_jest_PiS.html.
• Smallpage, S.M., Enders A.M. & Uscinski, J.E. (2017) “The Partisan Contours of Conspiracy Theory Beliefs” Research and Politics, Vol. 4 (4), 1 – 7.
• Ścigaj, P. (2016) “»Jestem na froncie walki z systemem od wielu lat. I będę walczył do końca« Styl paranoiczny w retoryce wyborczej Pawła Kukiza”. In Kułakowska, Małgorzata; Borowiec, Paweł & Ścigaj, Paweł (Eds.), Oblicza kampanii wyborcych 2015 roku. Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ.
• (2015). Deklaracja programowa. Retrieved from: http://partiarazem.pl/program/.
• Uscinski, J.E., Klofstad, C. & Atkinson, M.D. (2016). “What Drives Conspiratorial Beliefs? The Role of Informational Cues and Predispositions” Political Research Quarterly 2016, Vol. 69 (1), 57 – 71.
• Uscinski, J.E., Parent, J.M. (2014). American Conspiracy Theories, New York: Oxford University Press.
• van Prooijen, J.-W., Krouwel, André P.M. & Pollet, T.V. (2015). “Political Extremism Predicts Belief in Conspiracy Theories”. Social Psychological and Personality Science, Vol. 6 (5), 570 – 578.
• Wiśniewska, K. (2015). Paweł Kukiz vs Janusz Korwin-Mikke. Najciekawszy pojedynek w wyborczym peletonie. Retrieved from: https://natemat.pl/133621,pawel-kukiz-vs-janusz-korwin-mikke-najciekawszy-pojedynek-w-wyborczym-peletonie.