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A problem-based approach to understanding public support for referendums
Hannah Werner1, Sofie Marien1, Andrea Felicetti1
1Centre for Political Research KU Leuven Belgium.
Public support for referendums stems from dissatisfaction with representative democracy. Citizens favor referendums when governments fail to listen, but less so when they lack leadership, especially in countries with frequent referendum use.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Comparative Politics
- Public Opinion Research
Background:
- Widespread popular support for referendums is often attributed to dissatisfaction with representative democracy.
- Citizens may view referendums as a targeted solution for specific political system problems, rather than a universal remedy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how citizen dissatisfaction with representative democracy influences support for referendums.
- To explore the nuanced relationship between evaluations of government performance and the demand for direct democratic instruments.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of survey data from the 2012 European Social Survey, encompassing 29 countries and 37,070 participants.
- Examination of the correlation between citizens' expectations and evaluations of representatives and their support for referendums.
Main Results:
- Dissatisfaction with government responsiveness (listening to citizens) is positively associated with higher support for referendums.
- Conversely, dissatisfaction with government leadership capacity is linked to lower support for referendums.
- The positive association between dissatisfaction with responsiveness and referendum support weakens in countries with more frequent referendum usage.
Conclusions:
- Citizen support for referendums is problem-driven, contingent on specific perceived failures of representative institutions.
- The effectiveness of referendums as a solution for government unresponsiveness is moderated by national experience with direct democracy.
- Understanding public opinion on referendums requires considering both evaluations of representative performance and institutional context.
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