3. Zersetzungspotenziale einer demokratischen politischen Kultur: Verschwörungstheorien und erodierender gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt?

Far-right conspiracy groups on fringe platforms: a longitudinal analysis of radicalization dynamics on Telegram

“…Social psychology refers to this as conspiracy mentality , which is ‘the individual tendency to perceive the world as a place full of conspiracies’ (Lamberty, 2020a: 2). People with a pronounced conspiracy mentality show higher levels of distrust in democracy and are more likely to support violence as a means to achieve political interests (Pickel et al, 2020). A high sense of uncertainty and the feeling of having no control over the current situation are particularly important drivers of belief in conspiracy narratives (Whitson and Galinsky, 2008).…”

“…In particular, social media are accused of contributing greatly to the spread of conspiracy narratives by creating the ideal opportunity structures for emergence, dissemination, and acceleration (Pickel et al, 2020). Various studies indicate that in the wake of societally important events, such as large protests or terrorist attacks, the spread of conspiracy narratives on social media increases greatly due to lacking information or ideology-based communication (Douglas et al, 2019; Starbird, 2017).…”

“…Although radicalization dynamics do not necessarily result in violent behavior, violent action is considered its strongest expression. Expressions of support for violence are more likely to be present in more radicalized and conspiracy-related contexts and can be considered a manifestation of extremist tendencies (Pickel et al, 2020). The individual inclination to use violence is a legitimate tool for changing the status quo while also violating the democratic order (Leader Maynard and Benesch, 2016).…”

“…‘Such conspiracies typically consist of either powerful others (e.g., politicians, CEOs, scientists) or marginalized groups (e.g., Muslims, Jews)’ (Van Prooijen et al, 2015: 571) and offer alternative explanations that deviate from the usual explanatory patterns. Conspiracy narratives are frequently considered an expression of a defensive position against current political representatives and democracy itself (Pickel et al, 2020: 106). Most conspiracy narratives are extremist at their core, and all extremist ideologies have an underlying conspiracy narrative (Van Prooijen et al, 2015).…”

Die Vertrauenskrise in der Gesellschaft

“…In allen drei Studien bejahen zwar über 90 % der Bevölkerung ganz allgemein, dass sie die Demokratie für die beste Staatsform halten (Pickel et al. 2020 , S. 98), wobei aber die Zufriedenheit mit der derzeit in Deutschland praktizierten Demokratie deutlich geringer ist. Nach den Ergebnissen der von der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Auftrag gegebenen Studie sind 37 % mit der Demokratie „alles in allem so, wie sie in Deutschland besteht“ zufrieden und 45 % sind zum Teil zufrieden (Pokorny 2020 , S. 7).…”