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Measuring Internal Political Efficacy in the 1988 National Election Study
Abstract
Political efficacy has been studied extensively since the 1950s, hut analysts have never been fully satisfied with its measurement. After considerable testing, four new questions tapping internal political efficacy were added to the 1988 National Election Study. Our investigation shows that inter-item correlations among these questions indicate high internal consistency, that by both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis the items measure a single concept distinct from external efficacy and political trust, that the measurement model is robust across major subgroups, and that the overall scale is externally valid and provides a good distribution of efficacy scores across the population. Further, the results of an order experiment in the survey suggest that responses are unaffected by mode of presentation. In short, the four new questions constitute the most satisfactory measure of internal political efficacy to date.
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Cites
Political efficacy and trust: A report on the NES pilot study items
Craig, S. C., Niemi, R. G., & Silver, G. E. (1990) · Political Behavior · doi:10.1007/bf00992337 · Cited by 983
Self-citationThe Human Meaning of Social Change.
Berger, B., Campbell, A., & Converse, P. E. (1974) · Contemporary Sociology · doi:10.2307/2061932 · Cited by 798
The Human Meaning of Social Change, by Angus Campbell and Philip E. Converse
Coser, L. A. (1973) · Political Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2148168 · Cited by 282
A New Model for Old Measures: A Covariance Structure Analysis of Political Efficacy
Acock, A., Clarke, H. D., & Stewart, M. C. (1985) · The Journal of Politics · doi:10.2307/2130807 · Cited by 196
Craig, S. C., & Maggiotto, M. A. (2016) · Cited by 196
Self-citationPolitical Life: Why and How People Get Involved in Politics
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American national election studies data sourcebook 1952–1978
Miller, W. E. (1982) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/0261-3794(82)90156-1 · Cited by 135
Alternative measures of political efficacy: models and means
Acock, A. C., & Clarke, H. (1990) · Quality & Quantity · doi:10.1007/bf00221386 · Cited by 93
The Stability and Reliability of Political Efficacy: Using Path Analysis to Test Alternative Models
McPherson, J. M., Welch, S., & Clark, C. (1977) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055400267427 · Cited by 86
The Structural Context of Politics and Dimensions of Regime Performance
Coleman, K. M., & Davis, C. L. (1976) · Comparative Political Studies · doi:10.1177/001041407600900203 · Cited by 63
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Lessons of Welfare: Policy Design, Political Learning, and Political Action
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Affective Polarization in Multiparty Systems
Wagner, M. (2021) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102199 · Cited by 593
Third person effects of fake news: Fake news regulation and media literacy interventions
Jang, S. M., & Kim, J. K. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.11.034 · Cited by 414
The Daily Show Effect: Candidate Evaluations, Efficacy, and American Youth
Baumgartner, J., & Morris, J. S. (2006) · American Politics Research · doi:10.1177/1532673x05280074 · Cited by 403
Balmas, M. (2014) · Communication Research · doi:10.1177/0093650212453600 · Cited by 325
Metadata
- Authors
- Niemi, R. G., Craig, S. C., & Mattei, F.
- Venue
- American Political Science Review
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1991-12
- Volume
- 85
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1407-1413
- ISSN
- 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5943
- OpenAlex
- W2165312870
- Cited by
- 1,072
- References
- 10
- FWCI
- 3.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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