Heading toward a post-factual politics?

Abstract

The success of politicians such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, as well as populist parties such as the AfD in Germany, has led to a feverish discussion of terms such as disinformation, ‘bullshit’ or post-truth politics. There has been an increase in studies examining the willful violation of the truth norm and the decreasing relevance of truth in strategic political communication. This paper focuses on the broader perspective of post-truth politics—a topic that has to date been the subject of barely any empirical research in Germany. The existence of a post-truth politics hinges first and foremost on the assumption of a post-truth politics. The reflexive character of post-truth politics implies that one not only normalizes post-truth politics, it also assumes that others do so as well. Here, a distinction can be made between two types: ‘Post-truth citizens’ assume that politicians are largely indifferent to the truth. ‘Post-truth actors’ consider such indifference to the truth to be legitimate. These are the foci of this article: How do politicians, spokespersons, and journalists assess the spread and acceptance of lies and bullshit in Germany? To what extent do they perceive themselves as being part of a post-truth politics? In addition, how do journalists react to politicians who they accuse of being disconnected from the truth? Toward these aims, we surveyed a total of 758 members of the federal and state parliaments, members of the German Federal Press Conference, and all state press conferences as well as spokespersons for parties, parliamentary groups, and ministries at the federal and state levels. The results show, among other things, that slightly more than half of the respondents believe themselves to be living in a post-truth democracy, while more than 90 percent expect politics to be serious, binding, and that it has a claim to truth.