Despite their different nuances across time and regions, then, populist politicians unite in a Manichean worldview, in which societies are seen as divided between the elite and the people.
– ‘Conspiracy theory and populism’, in Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories (2020), p. 331
Hauwaert [Hauwaert, S.V. (2012) ‘Shared dualisms: on populism and conspiracy theory’, Counterpoint] stresses that both [populism and conspiracy theory] share a Manichean worldview that postulates a conflict between good and evil, the people and the elite; with populism stressing the innocence of the people and conspiracy theories stressing their lack of knowledge about the secret plot.
– Ibid., p. 333