Define political efficacy and differentiate between internal and external efficacy.

• A. The belief that one can influence political processes; internal efficacy is confidence in one's own ability to participate, external efficacy is belief that the political system will respond.
• B. Efficacy refers to personal economic power; internal power equals income, external equals influence.
• C. Efficacy is the degree to which individuals are affected by political decisions; internal efficacy is self-confidence, external efficacy is trust in media.
• D. The belief that one can influence political processes; internal efficacy is confidence in one's own ability to participate, external efficacy is belief that the political system will respond.

Answer: (D)

Political efficacy is the belief that your participation can influence political processes. It has two parts: internal efficacy and external efficacy. Internal efficacy is your confidence in your own ability to understand political issues and take part in political activities—like grasping how to vote, contacting representatives, or organizing a community effort. External efficacy is the belief that the political system will respond to your actions—that citizen engagement can lead to meaningful changes, rather than being ignored or blocked.

This distinction matters because people who feel capable (high internal efficacy) are more likely to participate, while those who believe the system will listen and respond (high external efficacy) are more likely to persist in civic action. It’s possible to feel you can participate (high internal) but doubt the system will respond (low external), which can affect motivation differently from having both high internal and external efficacy.

The other descriptions either mix in unrelated ideas (like economic power or trust in media) or misstate what external efficacy means (it’s about the system’s responsiveness to citizens, not about general trust in media or purely personal influence).