Olsen’s Political Alienation Scale
Marvin E. Olsen‚ 1969
1. I believe public officials don’t care much what people like me think.
2. There is no way other than voting that people like me can influence actions of the government.
3. Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that I can’t really understand what’s going on.
4. People like me don’t have any say about what the government does.
5. These days the government is trying to do too many things‚ including some activities that I don’t think it has theright to do.
6. For the most part‚ the government serves the interests of a few organized groups‚ such as business or labor‚and isn’t very concerned about the needs of people like myself.
7. It seems to me that the government often fails to take necessary actions on important matters‚ even when most people favor such actions.
8. As the government is now organized operated‚ I think it is hopelessly incapable of dealing with all the crucial problems facing the country today.
Incapability scale and discontentment scale (Olsen‚ 1969).
This instrument can be found online at: http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/41865
A=Strongly Agree‚ D= Strongly Disagree
Political Incapability/futility Scale‚ 1-4 and Discontentment or cynicism with politics (Olsen‚ 1969)
Olsen‚ M. 1969. Two categories of political alienation. SocialForces‚ 47;288-299.
Olsen‚ Marvin E. (1968). “Two Categories of Political Alienation”. Social Forces 47. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
Choichiro Yatani‚ 1982. Attitudes Toward Political Participation and Preference for Violence. Oregon State University. master of Art Thesis.