POLITICAL DISENGAGEMENT AND POLITICAL HYPOCRISY: A HIDDEN CONNECTION?

In recent elections, modern democracies have witnessed the growing phenomenon of political disengagement, which had as a direct consequence the decline or the inconstancy of voting turnout. Recent studies have highlighted that... [ view full abstract ]

In recent elections, modern democracies have witnessed the growing phenomenon of political disengagement, which had as a direct consequence the decline or the inconstancy of voting turnout. Recent studies have highlighted that it can be associated not only to situational contextual factors but also to personal ones, such as the voters’ perception of dishonesty or ineffectiveness of their elected officials. When politicians perform behaviors or actions which are perceived inconsistent with what they have previously promised, citizens could perceive them as “hypocrites”. Political hypocrisy can be defined, therefore, as “the disparity between a political actor’s public avowals and actions”. The present study aims to study the relationship among political disengagement and perception of political hypocrisy, political orientation and occurrence of detachment in past elections. Results confirmed that future position of detachment in politics is positively related to high perception of political hypocrisy, thus reinforcing the assumption that politicians’ perceptions are related to voting choices. Moreover, results highlighted that future voting intention is positively related with current political orientation and occurrence of detachment in past elections. In fact, politically disengaged voters tend to consider themselves as independent voters or not interested in politics, or have experienced past detachment behaviors.