From principle to practice: the limits of top-down referendums in reengaging political cynics

Rising levels of political cynicism pose a significant challenge to contemporary democracies. Giving citizens a more direct say through referendums has been proposed as one way to bridge the gap between governments and a cynical citizenry. In a large, representative sample of the Belgian-Flemish population (N = 2205), we find that binding 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 and binding 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, top-down referendums may fail to meet the expectations of disillusioned citizens, limiting their reengagement and potentially creating counterproductive effects.