(Dis)trust into political institutions and conspiracy theories : case of Slovenia

Haček, Miro (author)

After the collapse of the non-democratic regimes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, new democratic states emerged in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and began their state building on the wave of democratic enthusiasm. Majority of those countries, including Slovenia, entered European Union in early 2000s as consolidated well-working democracies, although public trust in democratic political institutions has been on the slow decline since gaining independence, only to drop substantially more after global economic crisis and wave of populist politics hit CEE in the last decade. Author is analyzing trends in (dis)trust levels in key political institutions in Slovenia with emphasis on the wave of conspiracy theories, which extensively spread during and after global coronavirus pandemic. Crisis events such as recent global pandemic have triggered a wave of concerns about the actual backgrounds of global crises, and those concerns eroded public trust into key political and administrative institutions and added fuel to the conspiracy theories that were often embraced by political parties and non-governmental stakeholders that exploited sometimes-legitimate concerns to their own benefits.

• Language: English
• Keywords: conspiracy theories, political trust, information, institutions
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Geographic coverage: Slovenija
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 13.06.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 5-16
• Numbering: Vol. 17, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-161471
• UDC: 323(497.4)
• ISSN on article: 1338-1385
• COBISS.SI-ID: 198794243
• Publication date in RUL: 11.09.2024

HAČEK, Miro, 2024, (Dis)trust into political institutions and conspiracy theories : case of Slovenia. Journal of comparative politics [online]. 2024. Vol. 17, no. 2, p. 5–16. [Accessed 11 April 2025]. Retrieved from: https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?lang=eng&id=161471

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of comparative politics
• Publisher: Department of Political Science, Center for Analysis of Administrative-Political Processes and Institutions, Alma Mater Europea-European Centre Maribor (AMEU-ECM)
• ISSN: 1338-1385
• COBISS.SI-ID: 29224285

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: (Ne)zaupanje v politične institucije in teorije zarot

Abstract

Po razpadu nedemokratičnih režimov v poznih osemdesetih in zgodnjih devetdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja so v srednji in vzhodni Evropi nastale nove demokratične države, ki so izgrajevale države na valu demokratičnega navdušenja. Večina teh držav - vključno s Slovenijo - je vstopila v Evropsko unijo v prvem desetletju tega tisočletja kot utrjene, dobro delujoče demokracije, čeprav je zaupanje javnosti v demokratične politične institucije od osamosvojitve počasi upadalo. Po svetovni gospodarski krizi in valu populizma v zadnjem desetletju je zaupanje javnosti v demokratične politične institucije še dodatno strmoglavilo. Avtor analizira trende (ne)zaupanja v ključne politične institucije v Sloveniji s poudarkom na valu teorij zarote, ki se je močno razširil med in po globalni pandemiji koronavirusa. Krizni dogodki, kot je nedavna pandemija, so sprožili val skrbi glede dejanskih ozadij svetovnih kriz, tovrstni pomisleki pa so še dodatno zmanjšali zaupanje javnosti v ključne politične institucije ter podžgali teorije zarote, ki so jih pogosto sprejemale tudi politične stranke in nevladne organizacije ter jih izkoriščale v lastno korist.

• Keywords: teorije zarot, politično zaupanje, informacije, informiranost, institucije, politične institucije

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: N5-0222-2022
• Name: Politični potencial teorij zarote. Študij Poljske in Slovenije