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Political Cynicism Scale/Evidence
Method evidence record

Political Cynicism Scale

The Political Cynicism Scale measures the disposition to hold politicians and politics in disrepute, viewing officeholders as dishonest, self-serving, and unresponsive. First operationalized by Agger, Goldstein, and Pearl in 1961, the construct captures a generalized distrust distinct from disagreement with particular leaders or policies. Cynicism scales sit alongside political trust and efficacy as core measures of citizens' orientation toward the political system, and they figure prominently in debates, sharpened by Jack Citrin, over whether low trust reflects deep alienation from the regime or merely dissatisfaction with current incumbents.

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Source record

Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.

Political Cynicism Scale (Distrust of Politicians Measure)
Taxonomic method record · latent-structure / political-psychology
  • Agger, R. E., Goldstein, M. N., & Pearl, S. A. (1961). Political Cynicism: Measurement and Meaning. The Journal of Politics, 23(3), 477-506. · DOI 10.2307/2127102
  • Citrin, J. (1974). Comment: The Political Relevance of Trust in Government. American Political Science Review, 68(3), 973-988. · DOI 10.2307/1959141
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Related methods

Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.

Used in the same domainDemocratic Norms Support Measurementmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Used in the same domainPolitical Efficacy Scalemachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Used in the same domainPolitical Trust Scalemachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.

Evidence status

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Bibliographic sources are present. Claim-level evidence review has not been performed.

Sources

2 recorded citations, copied from the method source record.

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