Data Set on Town Hall Participation

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 (THM) participation in a German city. Using a pre-post quasi-experimental design (N = 109), 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.

本研究以德国某城市的市政厅会议（Town Hall Meeting，THM）参与场景为研究背景，探讨政治效能感——即公民对自身理解政治能力的信念（内部政治效能感，internal political efficacy）与影响政治结果的信念（外部政治效能感，external political efficacy）。本研究采用前后测准实验设计（样本量N=109），对从该市人口登记库中随机招募的主动参与者，以及独立参与并作为对照组的被动旁听者的政治效能感变化进行了考察。结果显示，主动参与者的外部政治效能感显著提升，而被动旁听者未出现该变化；内部政治效能感则无论参与角色如何均保持稳定。研究结果表明，市政厅会议可增强直接参与对话的公民对制度回应性的感知，尤其针对地方性议题时效果更为显著。