Citizen participation and its impact on political efficacy: insights from a town hall study in Germany

This study investigates political efficacy—citizens’ beliefs in their ability to understand politics (internal political efficacy) and influence outcomes (external political efficacy)—in the context of town hall meeting (THMs) participation in a German city. Using a pre-post quasi-experimental design ( N = 106), we examined changes in political efficacy among active participants randomly recruited from the city’s population register and passive listeners who joined independently and served as the control group. External efficacy increased significantly for active participants but not for passive listeners, while internal efficacy remained stable regardless of participation role. Findings suggest that THMs can strengthen perceptions of institutional responsiveness among citizens directly engaged in dialogue, particularly on local issues.