external-political-efficacy-trends

External political efficacy refers to the belief that the government responds to the concerns of ordinary people Verified Answer #1. The American National Election Studies (ANES) tracks this sentiment using the metric of whether "people like me don’t have any say about what the government does" Verified Answer #1. Between 1960 and 2024, the percentage of Americans who believe they have no say in government actions rose from 27% to 63% Verified Answer #1. This trend indicates that a growing number of citizens believe the political system is unresponsive to them, rather than a decline in personal political interest Verified Answer #1.

Drivers of Declining Efficacy

The increase in perceived powerlessness is described as a "ratchet" process involving multiple overlapping factors Verified Answer #1. These drivers arrived in waves, with each subsequent wave raising the baseline of perceived unresponsiveness Verified Answer #1.

• Political Legitimacy Shocks: Significant shocks to political legitimacy began in the 1960s and 1970s Verified Answer #1.
• Economic Factors: Economic restructuring and rising inequality from the 1970s onward contributed to the trend Verified Answer #1.
• Institutional Decline: There has been a decline in mediating institutions that previously translated the interests of ordinary citizens into the political sphere Verified Answer #1.
• Gridlock and Polarization: Visible unresponsiveness has been exacerbated by political polarization and institutional gridlock Verified Answer #1.
• Media and Technology: Changes in media, from television and cable to the internet and social media, have made elite conflict and institutional dysfunction more salient to the public Verified Answer #1.