Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped not only our perceptions of life but also our political attitudes. Grounded in the Chinese sociological approach to political power and the “rally-around-the-flag” effect, this article examines how external political efficacy among Chinese youth changed before, during and after the pandemic, and whether political trust moderated this relationship. Drawing on data from respondents aged 18 to 35 (N=6,845) in the 2019, 2021 and 2023 Chinese Social Surveys, the authors conducted bivariate correlations, regressions and moderation analyses. Findings show significant variations in external political efficacy across the stages of the pandemic, moderated by levels of political trust. Among youth with low political trust, external political efficacy was higher in the pre-pandemic stage (2019), prior to the implementation of public health measures. By contrast, those with high trust in government exhibited lower external political efficacy in 2019 (pre-pandemic stage) compared to 2021 and 2023 (during and after the pandemic). These findings deepen understanding of political power dynamics in the context of crises such as a pandemic and demonstrate how such major public health events can reshape political perceptions and behaviour. They underscore the importance of fostering political trust and efficacy to maintain resilient civic engagement among Chinese youth.
Wang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.