Do Closed Political Systems Render Citizens Powerless? A Cross-national Comparison of the Effect of Institutional Structures on External Efficacy in 33 Countries

Institutional structures are often found to affect external efficacy. However, it remains unclear exactly which institutional structures have such effects, what direction these effects have, and whether this is the same for everyone, or whether this holds more strongly for politically more sophisticated individuals. To address this question, we offer a cross-national comparison of institutional structures in 33 democracies, using data from the International Social Survey Program (2004). First, using a multilevel model, we analyze the effect of institutional structures on external efficacy. As both proportional and disproportional structures are found to increase external efficacy, we propose a curvilinear effect to model this relation. Second, we use cross-level interactions to test the moderating effect of political sophistication in this relationship. In doing so, this article aims to contribute to our understanding of the effect institutional structures have on external efficacy, both among citizens with low and with high political sophistication.