Education, Inequality, and Political Behavior

Education, Inequality, and Political Behavior Notes

Summary

Educational level is a significant factor influencing citizens' political behavior. Higher education correlates with increased political interest, trust in politicians, and political participation. However, the political consequences of the participation gap between the well-educated and less-educated are often overlooked.

In the 21st century, education has become a driver behind new social and political divides in Western democracies, studied separately from class or income. Traditional cleavages are eroding, leading to new social groups and political inequalities. The well-educated increasingly dominate democratic institutions, potentially leading to policy incongruences that favor them and cause resentment among the less-educated. Examples include Brexit, support for Trump, and the Yellow Vests movement.

The Increasing Political Visibility of Education

Education enhances political participation in Western democracies. It is often analyzed alongside factors like income, race, and gender. While education is a frequent policy issue, it's mainly seen as a way to aid disadvantaged groups. Unlike other demographic factors (gender, income, religion), education has not been a basis for political mobilization, lacking parties like a "University Graduate Party".

However, education's political visibility has increased in the 21st century. It's now studied independently as a source of political attitudes, behavior, and inequalities. Political scientists and sociologists are examining its role in new political and cultural conflicts in postindustrial societies. The article further discusses these inequalities, education as a social and political division, and the role of schooling and civic education in addressing these gaps.

The Educational Gradient in Political Participation

Education as the Universal Solvent for the Puzzle of Participation

Educational level is a strong predictor of citizens' political behavior, influencing interest, participation, and trust. Early American studies in the 1960s (Almond & Verba, 1963) identified education as a key variable. Converse (1972) called it the "universal solvent" for political participation. Higher education correlates with increased political interest, trust, and participation.

Political participation varies in difficulty, forming a pyramid. Spectator activities (watching, reading, discussing politics) are at the base, while holding political office is at the peak. A strong educational gradient exists at nearly every level in Western democracies (Bovens & Wille, 2017; Dalton, 2017).

Spectator Activities

These are the most basic forms of political engagement, such as discussing politics. Figure 1 indicates that in Europe, educational differences in media consumption are minimal for those spending at least 30 minutes daily watching, listening, or reading about politics.

However, a significant educational gap exists regarding interest in politics and using the internet for political information. Those with tertiary education are more likely to be interested and informed online compared to those with primary or secondary education.

Voting

Figures 2a and 2b show a clear educational gradient in voting behavior. In the 2016 US presidential elections, turnout among college graduates was nearly double that of high school graduates.

Education is considered a strong predictor of voter turnout, but rising education levels have not increased aggregate turnout, which has declined from 85\% in 1960 and over 80\% in 1980 to approximately 75\% in 2011. This inconsistency is termed the "puzzle of political participation" (Brody, 1978). Unequal participation, with disadvantaged groups failing to vote, contributes to this. Voters with more education participate more frequently. Educational inequality in electoral participation has increased in recent decades (Armingeon & Schädel, 2015), especially in countries like Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Italy. No such long-term increase observed in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The type of election affects educational differences in turnout. National elections have higher participation rates than regional, local, or European elections. Contextual factors also matter; voter turnout is more equal where voting is easy, ballots are simple, registration is state-initiated, and the number of electoral parties is small (Gallego, 2015).

Non-Electoral Activities

Participation patterns have evolved since the turn of the century, including protest activities. Figures 3a and 3b illustrate the relationship between education and non-electoral participation in Europe and the US in 2018.

Nearly every form of participation is positively related to education. Signing petitions is a traditional form with a high gap, but novel forms also show large gaps. Joining boycotts is popular among the tertiary-educated, turning consumption into a political act. Online participation is also more common among the well-educated.

Street protests show a narrowed education gap compared to other forms of participation. While political inequality has generally increased, differences in street protest participation have decreased since the 1990s. Those with greater resources still protest more, especially in crises (Quaranta, 2018; Rodon & Guinjoan, 2018). High-status citizens may protest more in times of poor economic performance because. In the United Kingdom and Spain, highly educated citizens were more likely to protest austerity measures (Quaranta, 2018).

A novel form of participation is in deliberative settings. Governments are increasingly embedding public participation in policymaking through citizens' assemblies and online dialogues. However, more demanding acts of participation are disproportionately engaged in by the tertiary-educated. Studies show that highly educated men have more influence in deliberative policymaking (Spruyt et al., 2020).

Political Party and Civil Society Membership

Political parties were key participation vehicles in the 20th century, but membership has declined since the 1980s. Party members are now unrepresentative in terms of education; modern parties are largely composed of well-educated professionals. Social-liberal and green parties have the highest levels of educational attainment. For example, Grüne in Germany, Ecolo in Belgium and D66 and GroenLinks in the Netherlands.

Civil society organizations, once considered "schools of democracy", have transformed. Traditional groups have declined, while new social movements and advocacy groups have expanded since the 1970s. These new groups are often run by highly educated professionals, recruiting members and donations from the well-educated. Figure 4 shows large educational gradients for civil society organizations. These groups tend to contain a relatively narrow sample of the citizenry – "pools of diploma democracy."

Political Office

The educational gradient is strong concerning holding political office. Citizens with primary and secondary qualifications have largely disappeared from parliaments in Western Europe. In 2017, up to 90\% of MPs had at least a college degree (Bovens & Wille, 2017) (figures 5a and 5b).

A similar pattern is observed in the United States. By 2019, 96\% of House members and all senators had a bachelor's degree or higher, with 68\% and 77\%, respectively, holding degrees beyond a bachelor's degree. These rates are much higher than the overall US population where 34\% of adults ages 25 and older had bachelor's degree or more (Manning, 2018).

Reverse Pattern in Illiberal Democracies

The positive correlation between education and political participation is not universal. In illiberal, authoritarian democracies, a reverse pattern can occur. Better-educated citizens may disengage from legitimizing the regime through participation (Croke et al., 2016). Nonparticipation becomes a form of protest, as seen in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe.

Corruption also diminishes the positive effects of education on political participation. The relationship between education and political attitudes is conditional on institutional quality.

Education as a Cause or Proxy?

Explaining educational differences in participation is a complex issue. It is debated whether the length of formal education directly causes participation or serves as a proxy for other factors (social network, cognitive ability). Disentangling the effect of education from other influences is difficult.

Education as a Cause

Numerous studies support a causal relationship between educational attainment and political participation. Three explanations are offered:

1. Education predicts civic engagement, a necessity for political involvement (Verba et al., 1995). Higher education stimulates interest and self-assurance.

2. Education enhances cognitive capacity, improving information gathering, organization, and processing. Better-informed citizens participate more effectively.

3. Education develops skills relevant to politics. Civic skills, such as communication and organization, are important. Academic education provides training in writing, presenting, and debating. It also provides high-impact knowledge and experiences that increase political engagement. A study of Swedish MPs shows that the ability to handle large amounts of information is the most important academic skill for parliamentary work.

Education as a Proxy

The idea that education directly causes participation has been challenged. Relative education levels may be more important for aggregate participation and inequality (Persson, 2014; Tenn, 2005). Education is crucial for labor force success, making an individual's education meaningful in a comparative sense. The relationship could be spurious, with education acting as a proxy for preadult characteristics.

People with higher education may differ systematically from those without it. They are more likely to come from advantaged families and high-status networks. The educational cleavage may cause the impact of education to become more indirect. Studies offer conflicting evidence.

The Consequences of Education Gaps in Politics

Citizens with high levels of education participate more, which affects representation, responsiveness, and legitimacy.

Representation Bias

Descriptive representation matters. Voters use the social background of politicians to estimate their policy preferences. People want representatives who are "like them". Survey experiments show that working-class candidates are considered as qualified as affluent ones (Carnes & Lupu, 2016). The overrepresentation of university graduates is not in line with the preferences of the electorate; in the United States, majorities believe ordinary Americans would do a better job.

Policy Incongruences

The overrepresentation of university graduates can cause policy incongruences. Education correlates with diverging preferences on cultural issues. Party positions are more congruent with the views of higher-educated citizens, e.g. in the Nertherlands, policy congruence with regard to multicultural issues is 94\% between MPs and well-educated voters, but only 59\% with the less-educated voters. Representation is biased toward those with the highest education.

American politics has shifted towards a system dominated by political elites, with responsiveness to the mass public deteriorating. Even the Democratic Party has become a party of elite professionals.

Distrust

Well-educated citizens are politically confident and trust political institutions. Less-educated citizens show social distrust and political cynicism. Figure 6 shows that the lesser-educated in Europe lack confidence in their ability to influence politics and the responsiveness of the system. They feel unheard by politicians.

The education gap in trust is related to differences in political efficacy and status-based cultural conflict. The less-educated feel excluded due to the "superiority signaling" of establishment politicians. In the United States, cultural factors and ethnonationalism divide educational groups.

Education as a Cleavage

Education as a Basis for New Social Divisions

Educational expansion, secularization, and social mobility have weakened class and religious identities. Formal education determines socioeconomic positions and influences attitudes. The number of tertiary-educated citizens has risen significantly, equaling the number with primary education in many Western countries. Educational groups show differences in attitudes on issues like immigration and European unification. Some argue that these differences constitute a new social and political cleavage. Educational groups exhibit collective identities and perceived antagonism. The higher-educated hold more negative attitudes toward the less-educated.

In the United States, the educational expansion has created a social and cultural divide between college-educated professionals and workers without a college degree. This divide advantages the children of the professional class and leads to resentment toward universities.

Education as a Basis for New Political Divisions

Education level is important in the rise of a new cultural conflict dimension in Western politics. In addition to socioeconomic and religious dimensions, cultural themes such as immigration and globalization have emerged. This divides "cosmopolitans" and "nationalists". The higher-educated tend to accept heterogeneity, while those with primary or secondary education favor a homogeneous culture. This educational divide has caused structural changes in the political space.

Green and social-liberal parties attract voters from the high end of the education spectrum. Right-wing nationalist parties draw large proportions of primary- and secondary-educated voters. This is particularly evident in Western and Northern European countries.

A New Diploma Divide in the Political Landscape

The expansion of higher education has broadened the political base for the New Left, while cultural issues have fueled nationalist parties. The well-educated tend to vote for the New Left, and the lower-educated support the radical right. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, the Leave vote was much higher in regions with low education. In the 2017 French presidential elections, Macron's vote share was strongly correlated with education level. The Yellow Vests movement largely consisted of working-class citizens opposing political elites.

A similar trend has reshaped American politics since the 1970s. Those with high school diplomas have moved to the Republican Party, and college graduates have become more Democratic. The 2016 US presidential election showed a wide educational divide, with increasing alignment of partisanship with education among white voters. Educational attainment has become more important than income to explain political preferences.

Education as a Remedy for Participatory Inequalities

More Education?

Increasing the education levels of citizens may seem like a solution. More extensive education provides knowledge, skills, and dispositions for citizenship. However, there is a risk of educational inflation. Expanding education will remain the competitive gap, but at a hight level. The well-educated may start to acquire graduate degrees and international diplomas. Since the number of positions in the political networks remains constant, will crowd out the least-educated.

Furthermore, if education is only a proxy for preadult characteristics, extra schooling may not be effective.

More Intensive Civic Education

Civic education is not a positional good, and more intensive programs could raise engagement and skills. This may provide less well-educated citizens with a stimulus for engagement and skills. Better information may reduce negativity about politics.

Well-designed civic education can positively affect civic dispositions, increasing tolerance and knowledge. However, effective programs are numerous and not easily met. A cross-national study showed that civic education affects democratic norms and values, but influences vary across countries. Learning by doing has a more positive effect on political engagement than learning by listening. However, access to civic learning opportunities is unequal.