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A polygenic score for educational attainment partially predicts voter turnout

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher T. Dawes

    (a Wilf Family Department of Politics, New York University, New York, NY 10012;)

  • Aysu Okbay

    (b Department of Economics, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;)

  • Sven Oskarsson

    (c Department of Government, Uppsala Universitet, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden;)

  • Aldo Rustichini

    (d Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0462)

Abstract

The strong correlation between education and voting is among the most robust findings in social science. We show that genes associated with the propensity to acquire education are also associated with higher voter turnout. A within-family analysis suggests education-linked genes exert direct effects on voter turnout but also reveals evidence of genetic nurture in second-order elections. Our findings have important implications for the study of political inequality. Scholars have argued that parental education is the main driver of the reproduction of political inequality across generations. By separating the effect of genes from parental nurturing, our findings suggest that the roots of individual-level political inequality run deeper than family background.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher T. Dawes & Aysu Okbay & Sven Oskarsson & Aldo Rustichini, 2021. "A polygenic score for educational attainment partially predicts voter turnout," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118(50), pages 2022715118-, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:118:y:2021:p:e2022715118
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