Political Information Efficacy

Political information efficacy is a concept that describes the extent to which individuals have sufficient confidence in their level of political information or knowledge to participate in the political process. The concept is closely linked to political efficacy, particularly internal political efficacy or feelings of political power or worth for engaging in politics.

Political scientists and sociologists have long hypothesized that those with low feelings of political efficacy, who feel they can do little to influence the political process, are less likely to participate in politics and often do not exercise their right to vote.

Political information efficacy was first proposed by Kaid, McKinney, and Tedesco, who found that young voters are more likely than their older cohorts to feel they are not sufficiently well informed to ...