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Does Education Improve Citizenship? Evidence from the U.S. and the U.K

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  • Milligan, Kevin S
  • Moretti, Enrico
  • OREOPOULOS, PHILIP

Abstract

Many economists and educators of diverse political beliefs favor public support for education on the premise that a more educated electorate enhances the quality of democracy. While some earlier studies document an association between schooling and citizenship, little attempt has been made to address the possibility that unobservable characteristics of citizens underlie this relationship. This paper explores the effect of extra schooling induced through compulsory schooling laws on the likelihood of becoming politically involved in the US and the UK. We find that educational attainment is related to several measures of political interest and involvement in both countries. For voter turnout, we find a strong and robust relationship between education and voting for the US, but not for the UK. Using the information on validated voting, we find that misreporting of voter status can not explain our estimates. Our results suggest that the observed drop in voter turnout in the US from 1964 to 2000 would have been 10.4 to 12.3 percentage points greater if high school attainment had stayed at 1964 rates, holding all else constant. However, when we condition on registration, our US results approach the UK findings. This may indicate that registration rules present a barrier to low-educated citizens' participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Milligan, Kevin S & Moretti, Enrico & OREOPOULOS, PHILIP, 2003. "Does Education Improve Citizenship? Evidence from the U.S. and the U.K," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt6qw5h964, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
  • Handle: RePEc:cdl:econwp:qt6qw5h964
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    Cited by:

    1. Leigh, Andrew & Ryan, Chris, 2008. "Estimating returns to education using different natural experiment techniques," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 149-160, April.
    2. Merzyn, Wolfram & Ursprung, Heinrich W., 2005. "Voter support for privatizing education: evidence on self-interest and ideology," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 33-58, March.
    3. Denny, Kevin & Doyle, Orla, 2008. "Political Interest, Cognitive Ability and Personality: Determinants of Voter Turnout in Britain," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 291-310, April.
    4. Grant Johnston, 2004. "Healthy, wealthy and wise? A review of the wider benefits of education," Treasury Working Paper Series 04/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    5. Leonardo Becchetti & Stefano Caiazza & Decio Coviello, 2013. "Financial education and investment attitudes in high schools: evidence from a randomized experiment," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(10), pages 817-836, May.
    6. Marius-Cristian PANÄ‚, 2012. "Education and Crisis," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(5(570)), pages 145-156, May.
    7. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/946 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Kevin Denny & Patrick Orla Doyle, 2005. "Political Interest, Cognitive Ability and Personality - Determinants of Voter Turnout in Britain," Working Papers 200511, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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