A fundamental element of democracy is the principle that people are free to express opinions and have equal opportunities to be represented in government decision-making. People who feel they can influence political processes are more likely to participate in civic life through voting, or by engaging with politicians and political parties. Active engagement in politics builds stronger democratic values and ensures the political system’s legitimacy. People who feel they have no political voice, are less likely to comply with laws and regulations, and more likely to engage in protests such as boycotts, or to exit the democratic process entirely by not engaging or abstaining from voting (Prats and Meunier, 2021).
Political efficacy refers to the feeling that one’s political input has an impact on political processes. Political efficacy has two dimensions: internal efficacy, or the confidence to understand and participate in political processes, and external efficacy, or the feeling of having a say in what the government does. On average across OECD countries, 41% of people are confident they are able to participate in politics but only 30.2% feel that the political system in their country lets them have a say (Figure 2.7).
Perception about government responsiveness to public feedback and capacity to allow people to have a voice, are associated with government initiatives to include people in policy making. In turn, lack of responsiveness could lead to perceptions that the system works in the interests of a few, fuelling political alienation (OECD, 2022). The OECD Trust Survey finds a positive association between the share of people who expect that a national policy would be changed if most people expressed a view against it and the share of people who feel they have a political voice. On average, only 36.5% of respondents say a national policy would be changed if a majority of the population opposed the policy (Figure 2.8).
More broadly, external efficacy is also positively correlated with people’s satisfaction with democracy, which is said to measure people’s satisfaction with how democracy works in practice (Poses and Revilla, 2021). The latest data from the European Social Survey confirms the positive association between the perception of having a say in what the government does and satisfaction with democracy. Iceland, Norway and Switzerland score highly on both (Figure 2.9).
