The sense of political efficacy is a primary orientation and an important component in studies of individual attitude sets, and it has been regarded almost exclusively as an explaining variable, rather than an explained variable. By using panel survey data of the 1994 New Orleans mayoral election, this study examined the association between political efficacy and individual-level variables, consisting of objective sociodemographic and subjective cognitive variables. The findings reveal that an individual's evaluation of government responsiveness exerts an important influence on one's sense of efficacy to affect the political world. As was true of the socio-economic status indexes, increases of education level and income are positively associated with the increasing level of political efficacy. Contrary to expectations, the findings demonstrate that race just keeps a conditional connection with feelings of efficacy.
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