Skeptical Democrats? The Effects of Education on Political Attitudes in India

• In Event: Democratic Education? How Schooling Shapes Civic Engagement and Social Capital

Abstract

One of the strongest findings in political science is that educated citizens participate politically more. However, these findings emerge largely out of advanced Western democracies and they remain untested in the Global South, with uncertain mechanisms in poorer democracies. I leverage the expansion of primary education in India to estimate the impact of increased schooling on political attitudes and behaviors. Using a nationally representative household survey, I find that the program induced individuals to stay in school for approximately one year longer with large effects on human capital attainment. I then argue for considering the effects of educational programs at the household, not individual level as in previous work, as the second effect of the program was to significantly change the distribution of human capital within the household, particularly along gender lines. The most educated member of the household shifts from an older man to a younger, often female, adult. This individual is often one of the only literate member of the household and only member who can speak English. Using the household as the unit of analysis, I then find that households whose distribution of human capital was changed as a result of the program then disengage politically and become less trusting of public institutions.

Author

• Emmerich Davies, Harvard University