Perceived Output Strength as a Predictor of Political Participation

It is the aim of this study is to investigate whether citizens’ perceptions of the state’s output strength affect their perceived effectiveness of, and engagement in, various forms of political participation. Existing literature has mainly focused on the relation between political participation and citizens’ believed ability to have political input – i.e., their political efficacy (e.g., Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 2002). However, whether political participation can be effective is also determined by the state’s ability to translate citizens’ input into effective policies, i.e., its output strength. Therefore, it can be expected that citizens’ perceptions of the state’s output strength affects their perceived effectiveness of, and propensity for, political participation as well. Nonetheless, this relation has remained unstudied. Therefore, this study seeks to address this gap in the literature. To do so, it uses data from approximately 2000 respondents in the PartiRep Belgian election survey to be conducted in May 2014.