The ballpark extra innings: conspiracy theories and DonaldTrump

Donald Trump has brought conspiracy theories into the mainstream political debate. We spoke with political scientist Joe Uscinski, author of American Conspiracy Theories, about what impact this has had on American politics and elections

Balancing the presidential ticket may lead to unexpected – and unwanted – outcomes

Last week saw the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump nominate his vice presidential candidate in the form of Indiana Governor, Mike Pence; Hillary Clinton will soon announce her own candidate. Joseph Uscinski writes that the way such vice presidential candidates are selected has become progressively less democratic, with the process now in fewer and fewer hands. He also warns that if presidential candidates select a vice president who differs substantially from them in terms of their policy positions in order to gain electoral advantage, then this can create incentives for Congress to remove the Commander-in-Chief

If Trump’s rhetoric around conspiracy theories follows him to the White House, it could lead to the violation of rights on a massive scale

Even before his increasingly successful presidential run, Donald Trump was well known as being a promoter of conspiracy theories, which began with his accusations that President Obama was not born in the US, and was thus ineligible for the presidency. But how would a conspiracy theorist act if elected to the White House? Joseph E. Uscinski writes that while conspiracy theories resonate the most when they originate with the least powerful and accuse the most powerful, Trump’s conspiracy theories which target vulnerable groups such as refugees, immigrants and Muslim-Americans, could rally violent public support for his views

How playing on conspiracy theories can be key to electoral success

Why are some conspiracy theories more popular than others? Joseph E. Uscinski writes that conspiracy theories which go past partisan rivalry and target a political or economic system, or even a whole class of people, are usually much more attractive to a larger number of people than theories which concern a single event or person. He argues that Donald Trump has taken advantage of this bias towards more general conspiracy theories, and has employed them extensively during the current election campaign to gain voters’ favor

Almost 60 percent of Americans believe in conspiracy theories about JFK. Here’s why that might be a problem

November 22nd marks 55 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. More than half a century after the event, a majority of Americans believe that more people were involved with the killing than simply Lee Harvey Oswald. Joseph E. Uscinski takes a close look at Kennedy conspiracy theories, arguing that one of the reasons they appeal so much is that there are so many of them. He writes that these beliefs, while appearing to be relatively harmless, have been fueled by the government’s often lack of transparency over the years, which may have helped to further erode trust in public officials

Unfounded fears about sex trafficking did not begin with QAnon and go far beyond it.

The last two years have witnessed an explosion of headlines and concern over the apparent growth of ‘QAnon’, a far-right conspiracy group that believes President Trump is battling against ‘deep state’ child sex traffickers. Using national survey data, Joseph E. Uscinski and Adam M. Enders find that, far from having widespread support, most Americans view the QAnon movement unfavorably, and that they also wildly overestimate the true extent of child sex trafficking

The continued traction of Kennedy assassination theories shows that our predispositions towards believing in conspiracies are as strong as ever

Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. While nearly five decades have passed since the event, conspiracy theories still abound as to who was behind the killing. Joseph Uscinski and Joseph Parent argue that Kennedy assassination theories have been among the most durable because of the enormous coverage and discussions that have surrounded them since 1963, and the deference that they receive in the mainstream media. They write that as long as people are socialized to be more predisposed to see conspiracies, conspiratorial beliefs will remain with us

Why holding a presidential nominating convention in a swing state matters

This week the media’s narrative shifts from Cleveland Ohio, the site of the 2016 Republican National Convention, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the Democrats are holding their convention. That nominating conventions provide a ‘bump’ in the polls for a party’s candidate is relatively well known – but is there an effect on the states and cities which are holding them? Research from Christopher B. Mann and Joseph E. Uscinski shows that party conventions can swing voters in nearby counties, which can in turn shift the statewide outcome in a close contest. Both parties, they write, get an electoral boost from nearby counties that heavily lean towards them, but can experience a polling backlash in counties which support the other side