Direct democracy ballot decisions by Swiss citizens are analyzed through their justifications, revealing that voters use both principled (moral) and pragmatic reasoning equally frequently regardless of issue type.
Methodology & Data: Examines open-ended survey responses from 34 past Swiss ballot initiatives.
Key Findings: Moral arguments appear more often when the proposition aligns with personal values; pragmatic reasoning dominates when voters reject a proposal. Right-wing identification also correlates with more frequent use of pragmatic language. Campaign framing significantly influences voter justification style.
These findings challenge assumptions about distinct moral versus economic issue processing and highlight contextual factors shaping citizen deliberation in direct democracy settings.
