Education as an Investment in Democracy: Lessons from the Early Republic

• In Event: The Institutions and Civic Virtues That Support Democracy

Abstract

In the wake of Shay’s Rebellion of 1786 and the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 political elites and others in the United States expressed fears that instead of participating actively in the electoral process, disgruntled groups of people might instead attempt to air their grievances through violent unrest. One proposed response to this was to better educate the population, which helped lead to the creation of "common school" funds by a number of states. In a staggered difference in differences setting that allows for dynamic effects over time, we examine whether the creation of these common school funds might help explain an important political phenomenon observed by historians during this period: greatly increased engagement of citizens in the electoral process. The results we find are supportive of this interpretation. They also point to another important fact that those who propose new civic education reforms ought to consider. Given the inevitable time lag between beginning to learn and being able to vote, it takes several decades for an educational reform to affect a large fraction of the electorate.

Authors

• Tine N Paulsen, University of Southern California

• Kenneth F. Scheve, Yale University

• David Stasavage, New York University