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Characterizing Political Cynicism of First-Time Voters for the 2016 Philippine Elections

With elections looming in the Philippines, first-time voters are confronted with a serious dilemma: distrust and doubt with the government; hence, political cynicism. Hence, the purpose of the study is to characterize political cynicism as perceived by college students who are first-time voters of 2016 national and local elections. The study further examined the dimensionality of political cynicism as basis in developing a political cynicism index. Quantitative type of research via descriptive-exploratory method of research was utilized. A standardized instrument on political cynicism was distributed to 200 first-time voters in Padada who are currently enrolled in any higher education institution to determine the extent of political cynicism. Principal components factor analysis was used to derive the indices of political cynicism based on the survey results. Results revealed that overall political cynicism was found to be moderate. Moreover, political cynicism is multidimensional, which is a function of eight factors k1 to k8. It is recommended that academicians will further look into the applicability of the indices on a larger sample. The results could also yield basis for specific policy enhancements especially in shifting attitude towards politicians and Philippine politics as a whole.