A Model of Populism as a Conspiracy Theory
将民粹主义建模为传播虚假的“另类现实”，即知识精英出于意识形态原因密谋反对民粹主义者。若足够多选民接受，这种另类现实会削弱政治问责，而精英批评反而增强支持。民粹主义者可能实施有害政策以强化信念。
We model populism as the dissemination of a false “alternative reality,” according to which the intellectual elite conspires against the populist for purely ideological reasons. If enough voters are receptive to it, this alternative reality—by discrediting the elite's truthful message—reduces political accountability. Elite criticism, because it is more consistent with the alternative reality, strengthens receptive voters' support for the populist. Alternative realities are endogenously conspiratorial to resist evidence better. Populists, to leverage or strengthen beliefs in the alternative reality, enact harmful policies that may disproportionately harm the non-elite. These results explain previously unexplained facts about populism.