The ideological components of populism and conspiracy theories

Authors

  • Levon Babajanyan Yerevan State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46991/BYSU:E/2021.12.2.031

Keywords:

“thin” ideology, populism, theory about conspiracy, conspiracy theory, Machiavellianism, ideological component, anti-elitism

Abstract

There has been a lot of research on populism and conspiracy theories in the last century, and there is one thing in common in all researches․ In almost all studies, populism and conspiracy theories are viewed as threatening the democracy, the establishment of a rational, constructive social-political dialogue. However, the ideological and content generalities of populism and conspiracy theories have not been sufficiently studied in the professional literature. In this study the general ideological components of populism and conspiracy theories have been summarized and some of the descriptive elements of populist conspiracy theories have been identified. These components are the machiavellian understanding of politics, the stratification of society on the basis of moral opposition ("good people" - "evil elite"), the demonization of elites, the mythological modeling of social-political processes.

Author Biography

Levon Babajanyan, Yerevan State University

PhD, Assistant Professor of the Chair of Social Philosophy and Ethics

 

Published

2021-07-15

How to Cite

Babajanyan, L. (2021). The ideological components of populism and conspiracy theories. Bulletin of Yerevan University E: Philosophy, Psychology, 12(2 (35), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.46991/BYSU:E/2021.12.2.031

Issue

Section

PHILOSOPHY