The Correlation Between Education and Participation or Interest in Politics

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Does level of education affect political participation? This is not something that is new to the realm of academia, nor is it a concept that stirs up much controversy. It is however a topic which many have approached from different angles. They vary in research, method and in what they seek to prove, but are unified by the correlation between education and political participation. Education is defined as the level of formal education or skills training received. Political participation is the level that an individual contributed to a democratic system, such as voting, researching a political issue or participating in a political party. While this is the main relationship that this essay will be focusing on, the perceived positive relationship between income and political participation will also be discussed.

The claim that education positively correlates with political participation and is, “beyond dispute, and indeed is one of the most robust observations in the political science literature: people who have had more education take a more active role in politics and have more clearly defined political identities.” (Elmer and Frazer, 1991). What exactly causes education to have a significant affect on political participation does however require more debate. Higher levels of education, would appear to better equips people to understand the complex and abstract concepts of democracy and how our political system functions. This seems to be especially true when the student’s education involves verbal skills development, social science curriculum and civic skills (Hillygus, 2005). This concept is sometimes referred to as the education effect and finds level of educational attainment to be correlated to intention to vote, e...

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...I. The Empirical Facts”. Public Choice. Vol. 11. 101-106.

Hillygus, D. Sunshine. 2005.“The Missing Link: Exploring the Relationship Between Higher Education and Political Engagement”. Political Behavior. Vol. 25. 25-37.

Holland, Paul W. 1986. ‘‘Statistics and Causal Inference.’’ Journal of the American Statistical Association 81 (396): 945–60.

Kam, C. D. and Palmer, C. L. 2008. “Reconsidering the Effects of Education on Political Participation”. Journal of Politics. 70(3), 612-631.

Mayer, Alexander K. 2011. “Does Education Increase Political Participation”. Journal of Politics. 73(3), 633-645.

Russell, P. Keith. 1972. “Political Participation and Income Level: An Exchange”. Public Choice. Vol. 13. 113-114.

Verba, S.1993. “Race ethnicity and political resources: participation in the United States”. British Journal of Political Science. 23. 453-497.

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