Complexity of political thinking in referendums

What is it about?

In referendums and direct democracy, citizens are often critizised for not being competent enough to decide over complex policies. Furthermore, political psychology research finds that voters' thinking is often biased and that they tend to prefer arguments and information corresponding to their prior beliefs. In this paper I measure the complexity and balancedness of political thinking on Scottish independence and I test two strategies to debias thinking and increase the complexity of political opinions in a laboratory experiment. I find that accountability, that is the expectation of having to justify their political positions significantly increases complexity of political opinions.

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Why is it important?

In referendums and direct democracy, citizens are often critizised for not being competent enough to decide over complex policies. Furthermore, political psychology research finds that voters' thinking is often biased and that they tend to prefer arguments and information corresponding to their prior beliefs. Voter competence and the ability to hold well-considered opinions is particularly important in direct democracy, because it determines the quality of the democratic decisions.