Political alienation and referendums: how political alienation was related to support for Brexit

A common interpretation of the UK's Brexit vote is that it was an expression of anti-establishment sentiment, outrage and dismay from a politically alienated majority. This line of thinking suggests Brexit, like the electoral appeal of Donald Trump and parties such as the Five Star Movement, is but the latest manifestation of a growing disconnect between Western citizens and their democratic institutions. The direct role of political alienation in building support for such anti-establishment causes has, however, barely been examined. This study addresses this gap and uses previous literature on political alienation to build a model to test the claim that Brexit was (at least in part) driven by political alienation in UK citizens. The analyses show that while political alienation did have a substantial effect in making some citizens more likely to support Brexit-specifically those who lacked trust in the integrity of the political elite and felt that the political system was unresponsive-its impact overall was limited. Moreover, claims that Brexit was driven by political alienation understate how alienated from politics most people who were opposed to it also feel.