Politics with Paul #28: Political Efficacy: How Well We Know and Impact Politics (And Think We Do)

Political efficacy - how well citizens understand politics (internal efficacy) and impact politics (external efficacy) - is a crucial aspect of American politics. Efficacy is needed to ensure government responsiveness and accountability, a well-informed electorate, electoral competitiveness, and helpful public discourse. Unfortunately, however, there are many threats to political efficacy, and efficacy levels are arguably at some of the lowest they have ever been. Today's episode of Politics with Paul covers the nature of political efficacy, the ways efficacy is measured, the aforementioned threats to efficacy, why efficacy is so important to the health of our political culture, and some beginning questions and steps toward improving efficacy.