Table 5B.4
External Political Efficacy Index  1952-2004


                           '52  '54  '56  '58  '60  '62  '64  '66  '68  '70  '72  '74  '76  '78  '80  '82  '84  '86  '88  '90  '92  '94  '96  '98  '00  '02  '04 
 
   Average Score on Index   66   **   72   **   74   **   67   63   57   58   55   54   52   51   53   52   63   45   49   35   51   33   38   42   46   61   47


     Source:  The American National Election Studies

     

     The External Political Efficacy Index is constructed as follows:
     Variable 613 (Table 5B.2) and variable 609 (Table 5B.3) are recoded:
     Agree=0, Disagree=100, Neither=50.
     These new scores are then totaled (Don't Know is not scored)
     and the sum is divided by the number of valid responses. The result
     is then rounded to the nearest integer.
      
     V613: "'People like me don't have any say about what the government
     does.'" (RESPONSE OPTIONS READ OR SHOWN TO R)
     V609:  "'I don't think public officials care much what people like me
     think.'"  (RESPONSE OPTIONS READ OR SHOWN TO R)
       
     This represents variables VCF0648 in the NES Cumulative Data File dataset.
     Consult the Cumulative Data File codebook for complete question text and annotation.
     Weight variable VCF0009a was used to produce this table.

Table generated:  27NOV05