Polarization and the Politics of Education: What Moves Partisan Opinion?

• In Event: Public Opinion and Polarization

Abstract

The polarization of public opinion on education issues is relatively muted in comparison to other high-profile policy domains. This paper explores three theories about the mechanisms through which polarization occurs and tests their implications against nationally representative survey data. First, are better informed partisans more likely to adhere to ideologically consistent attitudes about education? Second, can ideologically moderate signals from political elites move partisans closer together on education issues? Third, does direct experience with schools reduce the political abstraction with which one evaluates education policies? I extend two existing survey experiments and conduct an observational analysis to answer these questions. I find preliminary evidence that ideologically moderate policy endorsements by political elites and direct experience with schools have de-polarizing consequences.

Author

• David Houston, Teachers College, Columbia University