How Conspiracy Theories Harm Deliberative Democracy

This presentation (co-authored with Sofia Tomacruz, Columbia University) examines the harms of conspiracy theories to deliberative democracy. We begin by mapping the debate on the harms and potential contributions of conspiracy theories in the public sphere.

We then extend this debate by grounding our argument in empirical research on the production and reception of conspiracy theories in the Philippines—the so-called “patient zero” in the global disinformation epidemic. We argue that conspiracy theories harm deliberative democracy in two ways. First, they corrupt deliberative norms by instrumentalizing their performance to secure commercial gains. More than simply mobilizing emotions, we find that conspiracy theories simulate deliberative norms of appealing to evidence and encouraging viewers to practice informed judgment. Second, we argue that conspiracy theories serve particular functions in the public sphere, including as placeholder explanations for issues people do not wish to discuss. We argue that besides worrying about the poor epistemic quality of conspiracy theories, of greater concern is their discursive power to evade difficult conversations and pursue plausible political projects on which people can pin their hopes.

Speaker & chair biographies

Prof. Nicole Curato is Professor of Democratic Governance at the University of Birmingham's School of Government. Her work examines the transformative potential of deliberative democracy in fragile and conflict-affected settings and has published extensively about the prospects of deliberative politics in the Philippines.

Prof. John Sidel is Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, and the Sir Patrick Gillam Professor of International and Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

*Banner photo by XT7 Core on Unsplash

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.