Understanding Education's Influence on Support for Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Geoffrey Evans and Pauline Rose

Journal of Development Studies, 2012, vol. 48, issue 4, 498-515

Abstract: Is education consequential for popular endorsement of democracy in developing societies and, if so, what are the mechanisms that account for this influence? We investigate the micro-foundations of the education--democracy nexus using a survey of 18 sub-Saharan African countries. We demonstrate that educational level is the strongest influence on support for democracy and rejection of non-democratic alternatives via its impact on comprehension of, and attention to, politics. This is consistent with a cognitive interpretation of the effects of education on democratic values rather than one which treats education as a marker of economic resource inequalities.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2011.598508

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