ABSTRACT
THE term political alienation has been used to signify many forms of negative feeling about politics. As the popularity of the concept has increased, it also has become increasingly devoid of specific meaning. Although many scholars concur that political alienation refers to an attitude, disposition, or state of mind, there is little agreement as to the exact nature of these alienated feelings. The situation is further complicated by an abundance of cognates such as political estrangement, political cynicism, and political anomie. The existence of political alienation is also implied by the use of related antithetical terms such as political trust, diffuse political support, and political efficacy. The specific characteristics of these variations and their relationship to the more general concept of alienation are most often left undetermined.
