Referendums without Citizens. The Case of the Referendum for the Reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia

Abstract

Following 20 years without popular consultations,
three referendums have been held in Spain since the
year 2000. A common feature of these processes is
their high abstention rate. Indeed, the majority of the
population did not turn out to vote in any of the three
referendums. Most studies on electoral behaviour in
referendums, both in Spain and other countries,
centre their attention on explaining the outcome of
such consultations, but little research has focused on
interpreting the reasons for abstention. This research study analyses the lack of participation in referendums
by examining the case of the referendum for the
Reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia
(referendo para la reforma del Estatuto de Autonomía
para Andalucía) held on 18 February 2007. Using
empirical evidence obtained through a post-electoral
survey and discussion groups, we show that the lack
of information, the incoherency and ambiguous
position of the main opposition party, as well as the
general discontent of a segment of autonomous
government party voters, led to one of the lowest
turnouts in Spain’s electoral history.