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Enhancing Electoral Equality: Can Education Compensate for Family Background Differences in Voting Participation?

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  • LINDGREN, KARL-OSKAR
  • OSKARSSON, SVEN
  • PERSSON, MIKAEL

Abstract

It is well documented that voter turnout is lower among persons who grow up in families from a low socioeconomic status compared with persons from high-status families. This paper examines whether reforms in education can help reduce this gap. We establish causality by exploiting a pilot scheme preceding a large reform of Swedish upper secondary education in the early 1990s, which gave rise to exogenous variation in educational attainment between individuals living in different municipalities or born in different years. Similar to recent studies employing credible identification strategies, we fail to find a statistically significant average effect of education on political participation. We move past previous studies, however, and show that the reform nevertheless contributed to narrowing the voting gap between individuals of different social backgrounds by raising turnout among those from low socioeconomic status households. The results thus square well with other recent studies arguing that education is particularly important for uplifting politically marginalized groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Lindgren, Karl-Oskar & Oskarsson, Sven & Persson, Mikael, 2019. "Enhancing Electoral Equality: Can Education Compensate for Family Background Differences in Voting Participation?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(1), pages 108-122, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:113:y:2019:i:01:p:108-122_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Buser & Rafael Ahlskog & Magnus Johannesson & Sven Oskarsson, 2022. "Occupational sorting on genes," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-062/I, Tinbergen Institute, revised 29 Mar 2023.
    2. Lindgren, Karl-Oskar & Oskarsson, Sven & Persson, Mikael, 2019. "Access to education and political candidacy: Lessons from school openings in Sweden," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 138-148.
    3. Buser, Thomas & Ahlskog, Rafael & Johannesson, Magnus & Koellinger, Philipp & Oskarsson, Sven, 2023. "Using Genes to Explore the Relationship of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills with Education and Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 16125, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Thomas Buser & Rafael Ahlskog & Magnus Johannesson & Philipp Koellinger & Sven Oskarsson, 2021. "Using Genes to Explore the Effects of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills on Education and Labor Market Outcomes," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-088/I, Tinbergen Institute, revised 29 Mar 2023.
    5. Oskari Harjunen & Tuukka Saarimaa & Janne Tukiainen, 2021. "Love Thy (Elected) Neighbor? Residential Segregation, Political Representation and Local Public Goods," Discussion Papers 138, Aboa Centre for Economics.
    6. Mathew Y. H. Wong & Stan Hok-Wui Wong, 2022. "Income Inequality and Political Participation: A District-Level Analysis of Hong Kong Elections," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 959-977, August.

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