political alienation
Definition
Political alienation refers to a sense of having no meaningful role, voice, or influence in the conventional political process, conceptualized as a construct comprising political distrust, powerlessness, and dissatisfaction. Political distrust reflects a lack of confidence in political institutions and actors, powerlessness captures the perceived inability to influence political processes, and dissatisfaction refers to negative evaluations of how the political system performs. These dimensions represent distinct yet complementary ways in which individuals may experience estrangement from the political system and do not need to be simultaneously present. Longitudinal panel data from Swedish adolescents tracked between ages 13 and 17 showed that within-person increases across all three dimensions were associated with concurrent increases in radical political behaviors, with political distrust accounting for the largest share of variance at 19%, followed by dissatisfaction at 15% and powerlessness at 14%.
Sources: Miklikowska & Besta (2026)
Related Terms
- adolescence (1 shared article)
- political trust (1 shared article)
- radical political behavior (1 shared article)
- radicalism (1 shared article)
- radicalization (1 shared article)
- political powerlessness (1 shared article)
- political dissatisfaction (1 shared article)
Applications
Political Alienation and Political Radicalism
Within-person increases in political distrust, powerlessness, and dissatisfaction were each associated with concurrent increases in radical political behaviors among Swedish adolescents, and at the between-person level, those with higher average alienation exhibited higher radicalism across the five-year study period. Political dissatisfaction showed a reciprocal over-time dynamic, where dissatisfaction and radicalism reinforced one another, while distrust and powerlessness operated largely concurrently rather than as lagged predictors.
Sources: Miklikowska & Besta (2026)
Political Alienation and Gender
The effects of political alienation on radical political behavior were more pronounced among boys than girls. Gender significantly moderated the associations of distrust, powerlessness, and dissatisfaction with radicalism.
Sources: Miklikowska & Besta (2026)
