Educational Attainment and Political Engagement in Mainland China: A Nationwide Analysis

• In Event: Beyond Borders: Exploring Civic Engagement through Comprehensive Data

Proposal

Combining political science, behavioral economics, sociology, and psychology, multidisciplinary cross-national studies have sought to understand the factors influencing political participation at both macro and micro levels. At the macro level, the socioeconomic development level and electoral system-related characteristics of a country are found to affect political participation. At the micro level, education has been widely discussed as a critical factor in developed countries, mainly through three mechanisms (Absolute Education Model, Relative Education Model, and Pre-adult Socialization Model). However, the relationship between education with political engagement in developing countries, particularly China, has received less attention.


This study aims to comprehensively examine the link between educational attainment and political participation in mainland China. Drawing on the latest World Value Survey (WVS, Wave 7, 2018) dataset, comprising over 3,000 citizens aged 18 and above, this study explores three research questions: (1) Do individuals with different educational attainment levels exhibit varying levels of political participation in mainland China? (2) Is there a positive or negative correlation between educational attainment and political participation? (3) Does this correlation differ across various dimensions of political participation?


Logistic regression and linear regression models are employed to estimate the association between educational attainment and political participation, controlling for covariates such as gender, age, occupation status, income, religion, and urban/rural residence. Specifically, for the logit model, the key explanatory variable -educational attainment-, is shown by a 7-level measurement of the respondent’s highest educational level: 1 = No Education, 2 = Primary Education, 3 = Lower Secondary Education, 4 = Upper Secondary Education, 5 = Bachelor or Equivalent, 6 = Master or Equivalent, 7 = Doctoral or Equivalent. For the linear model, a binary variable -whether completing the upper secondary education- is used to show respondents’ educational attainment. For both models, the key dependent variable -political participation-, includes the following three dimensions: social capital (social trust and political organization association), political interest (interests, discussion, and frequencies on political issues and information), and political action (signing on petitions, attending protests, contacting government officials, and voting behavior).


Preliminary results indicate that higher educational attainment is positively correlated with social trust, political interest, and certain forms of political action, such as contacting political officials and local voter turnout. However, no significant correlation was observed between education and participation in protests or petitions. These findings shed light on the relationship between education and political engagement in China and have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying this association. Further research is needed to examine the causal estimation between education and Chinese people’s political participation and explore the potential applicability of the three commonly discussed mechanisms in China context. By addressing the research gap and offering insights into educational attainment and political participation in China, this study contributes to the broader understanding of political behavior in the country.

Author

• Tong Ru, The University Of Pittsburgh School of Education