The Impact of (Higher) Education on Political Outcomes (Pre-Recorded)

Session Submission Type: In-Person Full Paper Panel

Session Description

The positive relationship between education and political participation is one of the best documented patterns in political science. Beginning with Merriam and Gosnell's (1924) seminal study on the causes of “non-voting,” literally thousands of researchers have shown that more educated citizens are more likely to vote in elections and referendums, more likely to participate in campaigns and protests, and more likely to engage in numerous other forms of political activism (for reviews, see Campbell 1960, Hillygus 2005 and Persson 2015). Converse (1972) succinctly summarizes the findings of this literature: “[For] a variety of political activities from party work to vote turnout [,] education is everywhere the universal solvent, and the relationship is always in the same [positive] direction.”

Yet, the interpretation of this relationship remains controversial and there is no consensus about the degree to which this relationship should be considered causal (if at all). Scholars in the “education as proxy”' camp have long argued that citizens with high levels of education differ in numerous important ways from citizens with low levels of education. In particular, past research has shown that citizens with higher educational attainment tend to have parents who are more affluent and politically engaged, and to have higher levels of innate ability and cognitive skill. Furthermore, these citizens typically have more conscientious and open personalities, are socialized in peer groups that consider political participation a social norm and may possess a genetic predisposition favorable to political engagement. These findings raise the specter that the correlation between education and participation may simply be driven by inherent differences between citizens with high and low levels of education.

Opposing this view, the “education as cause'” camp argues that education does causally impact participation by enhancing cognitive skills that facilitate political participation, increasing political efficacy, engendering community engagement, and connecting students to high-status social networks that promote political engagement.

Adjudicating between these two camps presents a formidable but critical challenge for empirical research, as knowing the effects of education has important implications for theory and policy alike. This panel unites four papers that rise to this challenge through combinations of carefully collected data and rigorous research designs. Focusing on developed and developing countries alike, they shed new light on the impacts of education on a variety of political and social outcomes. Bringing these papers together will serve as a springboard for synthesizing these findings from disparate contexts into a more general theory and evidence base of how education shapes political outcomes.

Sub Unit

• Division 58: Civic Engagement

Individual Presentations

• The Social and Political Effects of Higher Education - John Gerring, University of Texas, Austin; Brendan Apfeld, University of Texas, Austin; Stephen Jessee, University of Texas, Austin; Emanuel Coman, Trinity College Dublin

• The Impact of Colleges on the Voting and Partisan Patterns of Young People - John Holbein, University of Virginia; Jonathan C. Smith, Coastal Carolina University

• Is Education the Great Political Equalizer? - Karl-Oskar Lindgren, Uppsala University; Sven Oskarsson, Uppsala University

• Which Political Activities Are Caused by Education? Evidence from Entry Exams - Dalston G Ward, ETH Zurich; Dominik Hangartner, London School of Economics; Lukas Schmid

Chair

• Sunshine Hillygus Duke University

Discussants

• Mikael Persson University of Gothenburg

• Dominik Hangartner London School of Economics