Linguistic Markers of Democratic Backsliding and Autocratization, Stephan Lewandowsky

We live in an era of democratic backsliding and autocratization that is largely unparalleled during the period after World War II. Even leading democracies, such as the U.S., are subject to unprecedented autocratic measures by the current administration. Actions that used to be considered unthinkable have become commonplace. What are the drivers of these trends and are there warning signals or countermeasures? In this session, Lewandowsky will focus on the role of misinformation and populist rhetoric as key drivers of democratic backsliding. He will also report several analyses of political speech, both on social media and in parliaments in several countries, which show that when political rhetoric drifts from evidence-based reasoning—rooted in ascertainable facts and data—to intuitive language that is driven by feelings and subjective interpretations, democracy is in peril. Lewandowsky will also highlight recent studies that suggest that people become less tolerant of democratic norm violations when they are encouraged to consider factual accuracy as an important aspect of honesty.