We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Still Questioning Cynicism.
- Authors
Rijkhoff, Sanne A. M.
- Abstract
While political cynicism is often assumed to reduce people’s involvement in politics, others suggest that cynicism may actually increase electoral support for ideologically extreme political parties. Empirical evidence for either statement is often unreliable, contradictive or insufficient. I argue that these inconsistencies are caused by the lack of a proper definition and measurement of political cynicism. While scholars agree that political cynicism is something different than a mere lack of trust, skepticism or even apathy, there is still no widely-accepted definition of cynicism. In this study, I discuss the determinants of political cynicism including untrustworthiness, immorality, dishonesty, incompetence, self-interest and being out of touch with citizens, and I propose a new definition. Given the potential detrimental challenge political cynicism poses to legitimacy and the possible negative impacts of political cynicism on political participation, understanding the nature of citizens’ cynicism is important for assessing the vitality of democratic politics.
- Subjects
CYNICISM; SUSPICION; POLITICAL trust (in government); SKEPTICISM; PESSIMISM
- Publication
Society, 2018, Vol 55, Issue 4, p333
- ISSN
0147-2011
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s12115-018-0264-8