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"Der Begriff 'Videomalaise' ist zuerst in den siebziger Jahren in den USA benutzt worden, um ein Doppelphänomen zu beschreiben, welches seinen Ausdruck in einem Vertrauensverlust der Bürger in die politischen Institutionen einerseits und ihrem wachsenden Vertrauen in das Fernsehen als Vermittler politischer Informationen andererseits fand. Ist es möglich, daß spezielle politische Sendungen ein Unbehagen an der Politik hervorrufen? Indem westdeutsche Umfrageergebnisse zugrunde gelegt werden, wird in der vorliegenden Untersuchung die Haltbarkeit der 'Videomalaise'-These überprüft. Es konnte keien Beziehung zwischen einem Unbehagen an der Politik und den Inhalten der politischen Programme festgestellt werden, was den Schluß nahelegt, daß die 'Videomalaise'-These nicht gesichert ist. Es besteht stattdessen eine Beziehung zwischen politischer Entfremdung und geringer Anteilnahme an öffentlichem Geschehen einerseits und andererseits dem Ausmaß, in dem von den Unterhaltungsinhalten in Fernsehen und Presse Gebrauch gemacht wird." (Autorenreferat)

This article uses a political empowerment approach to explore the effect that descriptive representation in legislatures has on levels of political alienation among Latinos. Using data from the 1997 Tomas Rivera Policy Instit post-election survey carried out in CA & TX, supplemented with data on the ethnicity of legislators serving each respondent, we test this political empowerment thesis. The presence of Latino representatives in the state assembly, state senate, &/or US House is associated with lower levels of political alienation among Latino constituents. The effect is modest, & we find that other factors -- demographic, political, & ethnic-specific -- also exert powerful influences on levels of political alienation among Latinos. Although finding modest evidence for the political empowerment thesis, descriptive representation alone is not a panacea for creating politically engaged personas among Latinos. 3 Tables, 48 References. Adapted from the source document.

A frequent finding in the political behavior literature is that citizens from Central and Eastern Europe participate less in politics than their western neighbors. While political institutions have democratized and consolidated in some of these countries (i.e. the new EU member states), overall civic and political activism of citizens from the former communist states knows an obvious setback. This article focuses on Romania and traces the sources of political disengagement to the problems of post-communist transition in this country. The findings reveal that public expectations during the transition processes (i.e. demand side) have largely diverged from the perceived democratic performance of political authorities (i.e. supply side). Thus, the paper identifies widespread disappointments with the perceived outcomes of the political process as a key source of political alienation in post-communist Romania. Pervasive symptoms of political alienation in this country include feelings of political exclusion, helplessness and political ineffectiveness, distrust of politicians and political institutions, lack of interest in politics and the perception of politics as irrelevant to people's lives. All these further hinder citizen participation in the democratic process.

Objective. This article uses a political empowerment approach to explore the effect that descriptive representation in legislatures has on levels of political alienation among Latinos.Methods. Using data from the 1997 Tomás Rivera Policy Institute post‐election survey carried out in California and Texas, supplemented with data on the ethnicity of legislators serving each respondent, we test this political empowerment thesis.Results. The presence of Latino representatives in the state assembly, state senate, and/or U.S. House is associated with lower levels of political alienation among Latino constituents. The effect is modest, and we find that other factors—demographic, political, and ethnic‐specific—also exert powerful influences on levels of political alienation among Latinos.Conclusions. Although finding modest evidence for the political empowerment thesis, descriptive representation alone is not a panacea for creating politically engaged personas among Latinos.