ABSTRACT
Political alienation and its putative psychological correlates, threat from value conflict, political inefficacy and systemic inefficacy, were measured as indices composed of “agree-disagree” type items. The academic social scientists do follow some of the same paths to political alienation but, given the great similarities in role and lifestyle, the differences between them seem especially significant. In the study of American politics, region and party identification have been stressed as major determinants or indicators of political values, while the importance of ideological stance has been relatively deemphasized. Ideology was measured in two ways: a seven-point “semantic differential” scale from right to left; and a qualitative description in which the respondent associated himself with “conservatism,” “liberalism,” and “socialism,”. Fear and futility seem to explain substantial amounts of American political alienation. The comparison between professional students of the polity and scholars of the broader social system seems inherently interesting.
