The Irony of the Political Cynic? Perceptions of Referendums and the Gap between Principle and Practice

Rising levels of political cynicism pose a significant challenge to contemporary representative democracies. Giving citizens a more direct say through referendums has been proposed as one way to tackle this problem. In a large, representative sample of the Belgian-Flemish population (N=2205), we find that referendums appeal strongly to political cynics. However, when investigating their practical implementation, a different trend emerges. In a targeted survey of residents of a major Belgian-Flemish city (N=773), where the government organized local top-down referendums, political cynics were more critical and less likely to participate. This seemingly ironic finding was partially explained by political cynics’ tendency to disparage the specific issues addressed in these referendums, considering them as relatively less important. Our findings suggest that with suboptimal topic selection, local referendums may risk further alienating disillusioned citizens rather than reengaging them.