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Teachers and politics

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  • Lindov, Dalila

Abstract

I find that self-selection into teacher training programs in Germany is co-determined with ideology. Incoming teacher-trainees are more left-wing in ideology and political preferences than the average incoming university student. I find also that teacher training programs exert a socialization effect: as compared to the average student, teacher trainees’ views are reinforced and they become more left-wing as they progress in their studies. In a third step, I use the German Socio-Economic Panel to compare tenured teachers’ political attitudes with other university graduates and other civil servants, and find that tenured teachers are more left-wing than the average in the respective reference groups. I consider possible explanations for the left-wing orientation of teachers in the German educational system and implications of indoctrination and imbalance of views.

Suggested Citation

  • Lindov, Dalila, 2020. "Teachers and politics," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:64:y:2020:i:c:s0176268020300501
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2020.101902
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    2. Abel FRANCOIS & Laurent WEILL & Nicolas EBER, 2022. "Economists are born and raised, not made," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2022-07, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Indoctrination; Political attitudes; Socialization; Peer pressure; Pocketbook voting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General

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