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Eliot Higgins
@eliothiggins.bsky.social

🧵 I want to follow up this earlier thread by examining why the USA finds itself in the state it does at the moment; the process of disordered discourse capturing state institutions and how it inevitably results in a slide towards authoritarianism, a process we're seeing unfold before our very eyes.

Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social

What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.

Eliot Higgins
@eliothiggins.bsky.social

Let’s start with a critical point: Not all disordered discourse leads to institutional capture. Some narratives, like Flat Earth or Bigfoot conspiracies, remain fringe, self-contained, and irrelevant to policy. But others infiltrate formal institutions, and that’s where the danger escalates.

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Harold
@hpn3.bsky.social

'Some narratives, like Flat Earth... irrelevant to policy' From what I see, online, Flat Earth is more and more shifting from the 'anti-establishment' people to religious motivated people. And they want education reformed. They'll see opportunity in closing the Department of Education.

Eliot Higgins
@eliothiggins.bsky.social

Institutional capture happens when disordered discourse crosses into the machinery of governance, law, media, education, or tech; reshaping how those institutions define problems, make decisions, and enforce authority. It’s not a metaphor. It’s a structural process.

Eliot Higgins
@eliothiggins.bsky.social

The process of capture unfolds in 5 stages: Barrier Weakening (Gatekeeper failure) Legitimisation & Normalisation Adoption by Elite Actors Restructuring of Institutions Entrenchment & Epistemic Closure

Eliot Higgins
@eliothiggins.bsky.social

Stage 1: Barrier Weakening Gatekeepers, editors, regulators, party leaders, moderators, begin failing to hold the line. Distorted narratives aren’t endorsed yet, but they’re no longer blocked. The gate is ajar. Think early election denialism in the US starting to appear on places like Fox News.

Eliot Higgins
@eliothiggins.bsky.social

Stage 2: Legitimisation & Normalisation Disordered narratives are framed as “just one opinion,” “part of the debate.” Media covers them neutrally. Platforms amplify them. Politicians echo talking points to signal alignment without full endorsement. This normalises unreality.