The effect of education on voter's turnout in african presidential elections

Many studies of political behavior point out that individual with higher education participate in the largest extent in political activities than those with less education. However, recent literature shows that in developing countries the level of education negatively affects voters' turnout. This article appreciates the impact of the level of education on voters' turnout in the African presidential elections from 1990 to 2017. Based on a sample of 43 countries and considering all the presidential elections that were held in each country since 1990, the results obtained by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Fixed Effects models (FE) suggest that increase in the level of education negatively affects the rate of voting participation. The results show that primary school enrollment rate has a positive and significant effect on voting participation in presidential elections, while secondary and tertiary school enrollment rates reduce participation. Thus, the propensity to vote decreases as the level of education increases, which questions the institutional arrangements and contextual factors that characterize political life and the organization of presidential elections in Africa.