Ah. Donald J. Trump; billionaire, owner of the Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants, Reality TV star, and most notably: our 45th and current President of the United States.
Donald Trump was elected into office during the 2016 election, and during this time, many things about his character was presented in the media. For example, it was revealed that he said many unsavory things about women, immigrants and other marginalized communities. So why did he win the election?
According to NPR, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who ran against Donald Trump, had won the popular vote, but the Electoral College (a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the president and vice president) officially chose who gets to the the POTUS. Clinton's popular vote number exceeded Trump's by 668, 171. In the past, Democrats have won the past eight popular vote elections, but have lost two overall elections due to the Electoral College's decision.
A major reason why Donald Trump was elected into office also came down to democrats simply not showing up to the polls, specifically younger democrats. People I know personally said that they completely ignored the 2016 election because they did not agree with either party, Democratic or Republican. The image below is from AmericanProgress.org, showing the voter turnouts in 2016:
As you can see, the majority that voted are white, uneducated Americans, people who do not have the agency to make a formal decision, like who can be our next president for example.
Political Efficacy is defined as a clear and open understanding of how politics work and what they can do for you. Donald Trump's presidency is a perfect example of why political efficacy is so important. Trump achieved his position because he knew how to play the game, and how to get people to rally behind him and his extremely radical views. He catered to the audience he knew would get him what he wanted, which was the highest occupation in the land.
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