Dutch-American comparisons of the ’sense of political efficacy’: some remarks on cross-cultural ’robustness’

Abstract

The concept of ’robustness’ of scales in cross-cultural comparison is introduced and used in a comparison of the properties of the well-known scale of ’sense of political efficacy for American and Dutch data. The same scale properties are compared across several cultural subgroupings within the United States. On the basis of a version of Guttman type scale analysis applied by the author, an improved scale possessing some degree of cross-cultural robustness is constructed. A type of «-alp construction, devised by the author, was used for the construction of an extended scale for use in the Netherlands. Finally the paper presents this new Dutch scale of political efficacy, consisting of nine items