This study focuses on the political efficacy and trust in the government, which are the political attitudes defined by the Gamson Typology - Assured, Dissident,Subordinated, and Alienated. This study examines how the four groups differ in terms of conventional and non-conventional political participation, and to what degree the use of traditional and alternative sources of political information predicts the four groups. The results show that of the 1,470 Taiwanese Internet users who reported either high or low levels of trust and efficacy, 525 (35.7%) are classified as Alienated, 380 (25.8 %) as Assured, 328(22.3%) as Dissidents, and 238 (16.2%) as Subordinated. The four groups show significant differences in the level of education and party identification. Findings also support the hypothesis that compared to the other groups, the Dissidents are more likely to protest against the government, the Assured are most likely to engage in political activity, and the Alienated are least likely to engage in political activity. The results also show that the use of alternative sources of political information can significantly predict one to be either the
Assured or the Alienated.
