ABSTRACT

In view of the negative connotations associated with conspiracy theories, what have been the effects of the term's entry into popular vocabulary in the second half of the twentieth century? Has the ascendancy of the term “conspiracy theory” been correlated with a reluctance to allege conspiracy? In this article, the authors use Hansard, the record of British parliamentary debates, as a source of empirical data in demonstrating a significant and steady reduction in the number of conspiracy claims advanced in parliament; a pattern consistent with the broader marginalization of conspiracy rhetoric. This trend was reinforced by a trope that established itself in the 1980s and juxtaposed “conspiracies” with “cock-ups.” The British expression “cock-up” denotes a blunder or act of incompetence. In the second part of this article, the authors argue that the preference for “cock-up theories” over “conspiracy theories” reflects how a policy geared towards privatization and deregulation tended to characterize government action in terms of incompetence, and not of malfeasance.

摘要

鉴于与阴谋理论相关的负面含义，在二十世纪下半叶，该术语进入流行词汇的影响是什么？“阴谋论”一词的兴起是否与不愿指控阴谋有关？在本文中，作者使用《国会议事录》，英国议会辩论的记录，作为经验数据的来源，证明了在议会中提出的阴谋指控的数量大幅度且稳步减少；与阴谋修辞的更广泛边缘化相一致的模式。这种趋势在1980年代确立了地位，并把“阴谋”与“模仿”并列在一起。英式表达“ cock-up”表示失误或无能行为。在本文的第二部分中，作者辩称，相对于“阴谋论”而言，对“模仿理论”的偏爱反映了针对私有化和放松管制的政策如何倾向于以无能而不是渎职来表征政府的行为。