It is not that people disbelieve the news that they consume, but that its long-term impact upon their political confidence is corrosive. They come to believe that if the world is as they see and read about it, scope for making a positive difference is slim. In the context of three recent crises – financial, political and media – this article sets out an argument for thinking about trust and efficacy as closely related concepts.
AartsKSemetkoH (2003) The divided electorate: Media use and political involvement. Journal of Politics65(3): 759–784.
2.
AldrichJH (1993) Rational choice and turnout. American Journal of Political Science37(1): 246–278.
3.
BalchGI (1974) Multiple indicators in survey research: The concept sense of political efficacy. Political Methodology1: 1–43.
4.
BergerPNeuhausR (1977) To Empower People: The Role of Mediating Structures in Public Policy. Washington DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
5.
BlumlerJGGurevitchM (1995) The Crisis of Public Communication. London: Routledge.
6.
BounegruLForcevilleC (2011) Metaphors in editorial cartoons representing the global financial crisis. Visual Communication10(2): 209–229.
7.
CampbellAGurinGMillerWE (1954) The Voter Decides. Evanston, IL: Row Peterson.
8.
ColemanSBlumlerJG (2009) The Internet and Democratic Citizenship: Theory; Practice; Policy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
9.
ColemanSMorrisonDEAnthonyS (2012) The social life of news: A constructivist study. Journalism Studies13(1): 37–53.
10.
ColemanSMorrisonDEYatesS (2011) The mediation of political disconnection. In: BrantsKVoltmerK (eds) Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy: Challenging the Primacy of Politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 215–230.
11.
ConversePE (1972) Change in the American electorate. In: CampbellAConverseP (eds) The Human Meaning of Social Change. New York: Sage.
12.
Delli CarpiniMKeeterS (1996) What Americans Know About Politics and Why it Matters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
13.
EastonDDennisJ (1967) The child’s acquisition of regime norms. Political Efficacy61(1): 25–38.
14.
FinkelSMullerEOppK-D (1989) Personal Influence, collective rationality and mass political action. American Political Science Review83(3): 885–903.
15.
GamsonWA (1968) Power and Discontent. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
16.
GiddensA (1991) Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society and the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity.
17.
IsinI (2008) Theorizing acts of citizenship. In: IsinINielsenG (eds) Acts of Citizenship. New York: Zed Books.
18.
LangKLangGE (1953) The unique perspective of television and its effect: A pilot study. American Sociological Review18(1): 3–12.
19.
McCluskeyMDeshpandeSShahDVMcLeodDM (2004) The efficacy gap and political participation: When political influence fails to meet expectations. International Journal of Public Opinion Research16(4): 437–455.
20.
McLeodJMDailyKGuoZ. (1996) Community integration, local media use and democratic processes. Communication Research23(2): 179–209.
21.
MilbrathLW (1965) Political Participation. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally and Co.
22.
MoyPTorresMTanakaKMcCluskeyMR (2005) Knowledge or trust?: Investigating linkages between media reliance and participation. Communication Research32(1): 59–86.
23.
NewtonK (1999) Mass media effects: Mobilization or media malaise?British Journal of Political Science29(4): 577–599.
24.
NorrisP (2000) A Virtuous Circle: Political Communications in Post-industrial Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
25.
PutnamR (1995) Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America. PS: Political Science and Politics2(4): 664–683.
26.
PutnamR (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Touchstone.
27.
RobinsonM (1976) Public affairs television and the growth of political malaise: The case of the selling of the Pentagon. American Political Science Review70(2): 409–432.
28.
RosanvallonP (2008) Counter-democracy: Politics in an Age of Distrust. New York: Cambridge University Press.
29.
SaundersP (1993) Citizenship in a liberal society. In: TurnerB (ed.) Citizenship and Social Theory. London: Sage.
30.
ScheufeleDNisbetMC (2002) Being a citizen online: New opportunities and dead ends. Press/Politics7(3): 55–75.
31.
SchudsonM (1998) The Good Citizen: A History of American Public Life. New York: Free Press.
32.
VerbaSNieN (1972) Participation in America. New York: Harper and Row.
33.
VerbaSSchlotzmanKBradyH (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
34.
ZaniniM (2009) Power curves: What natural and economic disasters have in common. McKinsey QuarterlyJune: 1–5.