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The Effect of Political Efficacy on Political Participation and Vote Choice

Comparative Politics
Democracy
Political Participation
Electoral Behaviour
Survey Research
European Parliament
Jasmin Fitzpatrick
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Felix-Christopher von Nostitz
Université catholique de Lille – ESPOL
Jasmin Fitzpatrick
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Michał Jacuński
University of Wrocław
Marco Lisi
Instituto Português de Relações Internacionais, IPRI-NOVA
Adrián Megías
Universidad de Granada
Antonella Seddone
Università degli Studi di Torino
Felix-Christopher von Nostitz
Université catholique de Lille – ESPOL

Abstract

The rise of digital tools allows for new possibilities of political participation. But at the same time citizens express more and more the feeling of not having enough possibilities, knowledge and skills to influence or are not heard by politics. Existing studies highlight that this either led to a decline in all types of political participation or more non-institutional forms and a vote for anti-system parties. This is particularly the case in second order elections such as the European Parliamentary election. This paper ails to contribute to this ongoing debate by addressing the important question of how the feeling of external and internal political efficacy affects level and mode of online and offline participation and vote choice. It will do so based on a unique post 2024 European election survey covering several European counties. This paper contributes to the still limited comparative studies in political efficacy. It provides insides if the level of perception of the two different types of political efficacy has the same or different effects on pollical participation and vote choice across different countries but in the same election. More broadly it helps to identify which perception of political efficacy matters the most in explaining types of participation and vote choice and thus allows for the development of policy suggestions how to address this on a European and national level.