Does education improve citizenship? Evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Milligan, K; Moretti, E; Oreopoulos, P
• 署名单位: University of British Columbia; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; University of Toronto
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2003.10.005
• 发表日期: 2004
• 页码: 1667-1695
• 关键词: education; voting; civic participation; compulsory schooling

摘要

Many studies document an association between schooling and civic participation, but none credibly investigate causal links. We explore the effect of extra schooling induced through compulsory schooling laws on the likelihood of becoming politically involved in the United States and the United Kingdom. We find that educational attainment is related to several measures of political interest and involvement in both countries. We find a strong and robust relationship between education and voting for the United States, but not for the United Kingdom. Our US results approach the UK findings when conditioning on registration, possibly indicating that registration rules present a barrier to participation. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.