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What are the origins of belief in conspiracy theories? The dominant approach to studying conspiracy theories links belief to social stresses or personality type, and does not take into account the situational and fluctuating nature of attitudes. In this study, a survey experiment, subjects are presented with a mock news article designed to induce conspiracy belief. Subjects are randomly assigned three manipulations hypothesized to heighten conspiracy perceptions: a prime to induce anxiety; information about the putative conspirator; and the number and identifiability of the victim(s). The results indicate that conspiratorial perceptions can emerge from both situational triggers and subtle contextual variables. Conspiracy beliefs emerge as ordinary people make judgments about the social and political world.

This article is an analysis of the causes of Kyrgyzstan's "Tulip Revolution" of March 2005, and its implications for post-revolutionary politics. The mass mobilization was the result of community support for local elites after disputed parliamentary elections. The government was overthrown when an improvised alliance of opposition leaders and business elites unified uncoordinated protests around the country. Unlike Georgia and Ukraine's revolutions, civil society networks, students, and urban residents played a minimal role. Localism and informal ties were decisive, and have persisted in shaping politics since the revolution. The advent of "hyper-democracy" has endangered the government's efforts to ensure stability, reduce corruption, and grow the economy.

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