Conspiracism in Comparison: The Case of the Czech Republic

This case study was composed using the TaCT-FoRSED framework for explorative case studies for conspiracism research (Christoph et. al. 2025). This is a pre-print of the case study to be published soon in an edited volume. In this case study, the configuration of conspiracism and factors promoting and inhibiting it is a paradox one: while being a well-performing liberal democracy by most formal indicators, conspiracy theories have attained significant political institutionalisation and measurable legislative impact in the Czech Republic. This arises from a specific historical, structural, and cultural configuration in which the formal resources of Czech democracy (robust legal frameworks, press freedom, pluralistic civil society, strong public service media) coexist with deep post-communist legacies of institutional distrust, pervasive low political self-efficacy, and a fragmented information environment that provides fertile ground for conspiracy narratives. However, Czech democracy provides resources that might be helpful in tackling conspiracism, such as an active and professional civil society and bottom-up democratic mobilisation.