fbep_a_1593181_sm5579.docx (40.82 kB)
The paranoid style of American elections: explaining perceptions of electoral integrity in an age of populism
journal contribution
posted on 2019-04-08, 06:28 authored by Pippa Norris, Holly Ann Garnett, Max GrömpingPolls report that, contrary to the evidence, one quarter of Americans believe that millions of illegal votes were cast in the 2016 elections. What explains these types of beliefs? This article tests the predictors of public evaluations of electoral integrity in the 2016 American Presidential election, as measured by judgements about the fairness of the voting processes in the 2016 American National Election Study. We demonstrate that conspiratorial beliefs and populist values contribute towards citizens’ electoral mistrust. The results suggest that the paranoid style of American politics is alive and well in contemporary US elections.