Running head: THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

The Effect of Education on Political Development

Aaron Carlson
Minnesota State University Moorhead

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

The Effect of Education on Political Development
This paper assesses the effect of two aspects of education on the political
development of lesser-developed countries. It begins by analyzing the effect of civic
education programs on the development of newly emerging democracies, and proceeds to
assess the effect of level of education on various political development factors.
It is worth noting that this analysis employs a political definition of development
rather than an economic one. It defines a developed country as a stable functioning
democracy that holds open democratic elections, is widely supported and participated in
by an informed electorate, and upholds democratic principles such as free speech,
freedom of religion, and equality under the law. Thus, development constitutes any gain
made to such desirable political factors as participation in the democratic process, support
for democratic attitudes and values, identification with the nation as opposed to the tribe
or ethnic group, and general political knowledge and skills among the electorate.
Economic factors are outside the scope of this analysis. It is the aim of this paper to
assess the direct effect of civic education programs and level of education on the
development of a mature democratic political culture in newly emerging democracies,
separate from economic concerns.
Civic Education and Development
It is well established that the effectiveness of a democratic state hinges to a
significant extent upon its possession of legitimacy. The citizenry must believe in its
governments responsiveness, openness, and general positive intent in order to want to
participate. History demonstrates that without legitimacy, states tend to fester with
discontent and ill will, become ineffective, unstable, and potentially revolutionary. An

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

effective democratic state also requires an informed electorate, which is equipped with
the skills and knowledge required to participate in democratic processes and institutions.
In the absence of an informed electorate, incompetent leaders may be elected, effective
parties may not gain the support they require to flourish, narrow interest groups may be
allowed to gain unhealthy levels of power, and government will stand little chance of
growing into a mature functioning democracy. The question this raises is what can be
done to promote participation in functioning democratic regimes, encourage support for
democratic ideals, and increase knowledge and political skills among the electorate in
newly developing democracies. One potential answer is the instituting of civic education
programs, the goal of which would be to disseminate information and ideas that would
lead to political development in these areas.
Such civic education programs are abundant in lesser-developed countries, and a
significant body of research exists that assesses their effectiveness (Finkel & Ernst,
2005). Three such assessments are reviewed here. The studies were chosen to represent
the range of civic education programs that have been instituted throughout the third
world. Two of the studies assess African civic education programs, while the third study
assesses a program implemented in South America. Each of the three studies focuses its
analysis on a different age group, and examines different factors related to civic
education and political development. It is believed that these three studies provide a
representative sample of civic education programs instituted throughout newly emerging
democracies, and enable an accurate analysis of the effect of such programs on the
political development of third world countries.

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

Bell, Catterberg, Morduchowicz, and Niemi (1996) conduct an assessment of
Newspapers in the Schools, an Argentine civic education program implemented in
1987. The goal of the program is to bring civic material to six and seventh graders in a
way that promotes political knowledge, political tolerance, and open political discussion.
As of 1996, 40,000 teachers had received training from one of the programs regional
workshops, and 125,000 students had participated in the program (Bell et al., 1996).
Newspapers in the Schools has a somewhat novel structure, which differs from a
typical government or social studies class, and also differs from the structure of the other
two programs assessed here. The program uses newspapers rather than textbooks, and
teacher-led classroom discussions based on the newspaper readings, rather than a lecture
based pedagogical method (Bell et al., 1996). Newspapers in the Schools also makes
use of different newspapers with competing viewpoints, and teachers are trained to
encourage students to express conflicting opinions and controversial ideas in discussion
(Bell et al., 1996).
Bell et al. (1996) obtain their results using data from a paper and pencil
questionnaire administered to 4,000 Argentine students, half of whom participated in the
Newspapers in the Schools program, and half of whom did not and serve as a control
group. The authors match the two groups for demographic factors and control for various
variables such as prior political interest and media exposure. They then measure the
effect of the program on students factual political knowledge, political tolerance, and
democratic attitudes. Results for engagement and participation are not applicable due to
the young age of the demographic (Bell et al., 1996).

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

The results of the study are conclusive and find that students who participate in
the program are more politically knowledgeable and have attitudes that are more
supportive of democratic ideas than the control group (Bell et al., 1996). The authors find
the greatest gains to be made in factual political knowledge. The magnitude of the
programs effect in this area is sufficient to be considered highly successful by the
authors, particularly given that students participate in the Newspapers in the Schools
program once a week. Students who participated in the program are found to more often
give a correct answer than control group students to every one of the six factual questions
asked, with increases ranging from 5 to 12 percentage points over the control group. 11.5
percent more program students than control group students were able to name an
Argentine public service that was privatized, and 12.4 percent more were able to name a
country in Europe where there is a war (Bell et al., 1996).
Bell et al. (1996) note that factual knowledge is a necessary but not sufficient
condition for mature political culture, and go on to assess the programs effect on
political tolerance and support for democratic ideas. The program is found to cause less
significant but still conclusive gains in these areas. 6.8 percent more program students
than control students expressed support for freedom of religion, 6.3 percent more
indicated that they would, Oppose a bad government project, and 2.7 percent more
agreed with the statement, All right for women to work (Bell et al., 1996).
Bell et al. (1996) conclude that civic education programs have an effect on the
knowledge and attitudes of pre-adults. Students who took part in the program are found
to uniformly possess greater factual knowledge than those who did not, and have attitudes
more indicative of a democratic orientation (Bell et al., 1996).

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

Finkel and Ernst (2005) perform an assessment of Democracy for All, a South
African civic education program implemented in the early 1990s. The program sends
trained university students into South African high schools to teach 16,000 eleventh and
twelfth graders per year about issues related to democracy, human rights, elections,
conflict resolution, and how citizens can participate responsibly in democratic politics
(Finkel & Ernst, 2005). The frequency with which participating students attend the
program varies across schools, with classes being taught a minimum of once a week and
a maximum of once a day. Teachers are encouraged to use active teaching methods in the
classroom, such as group discussions, role playing exercises, field trips, and mock trials,
though the extent to which such methods are employed varies by teacher (Finkel & Ernst,
2005).
Finkel and Ernst (2005) use data gleaned from a survey administered to 600 South
African high school students, 385 of whom participated in either the Democracy for All
program or their normal school-instituted civic education programs, and 215 of whom
had no formal civic education exposure. The three groups are controlled for demographic
factors, family political background, media exposure, and prior political interest, and
measured on political knowledge, civic duty, tolerance, institutional trust, civic skills, and
approval of legal forms of political participation. Independent variables related to the
program include frequency of instruction, teacher quality, and activity of teaching
methods (Finkel & Ernst, 2005).
The results of the research align with those of Bell et al. (1996). The authors find
that the program most significantly affects political knowledge, with Democracy for
All students who received daily instruction providing an average of 10 percent more

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

correct answers to factual questions than control group students. The authors note that the
magnitude of this increase is twice that of a study conducted by Niemi and Junn (1998) in
the United States, which seems to indicate that civic education programs may have a
more significant effect on political knowledge in lesser developed countries, where the
messages received through civic education are less likely to be redundant (Finkel &
Ernst, 2005). Finkel and Ernst (2005) also find that there is no difference in political
knowledge between students receiving Democracy for All training and civic education
training in their normal classrooms. Rather, the variable that causes increases in political
knowledge is frequency of civic education of any kind.
Finkel and Ernst (2005) go on to assess the programs effect on attitude, value,
and behavioral change, and find that frequency of civic education exposure has no effect
on these variables. Students who underwent daily civic education training are found to be
no more politically tolerant, trusting of government institutions, or skillful civically than
students who underwent training only once a week. Two factors are found to have a
significant bearing upon the success of change in these areas: teacher likability, and
activity and openness of teaching methods (Finkel & Ernst, 2005). The authors theorize
that the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is one rooted in social psychology
research, which suggests that a significant source of attitude change is role-playing
behavior. Activities such as mock trials, field trips, and group debates increase student
participation in role-playing behavior, particularly when aided by a likeable and credible
teacher, and thus, lead to greater attitude change (Finkel & Ernst, 2005). The research
indicates that in the absence of both credible, likeable teachers and open, activity-based
teaching methods, negligible effects were made on student attitude or behavioral change.

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

With the presence of both credible, likeable teachers, and open, activity-based teaching
methods, modest, but significant changes were made to student attitudes, values, and
sense of civic duty, with results being higher than those of Bell et al. (1996).
Finkel and Ernst (2005) conclude that civic education has a significant impact on
factual political knowledge and relatively weaker effects on democratic values, skills, and
participatory orientations. Changes in these areas are not caused by giving students more
civic education. Rather, change in these areas is best accomplished when credible,
likeable teachers lead students in activities that encourage role-playing behavior. When
these beneficial pedagogical conditions are met, civic education has the potential to cause
gains in political knowledge, political skills, and democratic values among students in
newly emerging democracies (Finkel & Ernst, 2005).
Finkel and Smith (2011) assess the effectiveness of the Kenyan National Civic
Education Program, a major Kenyan initiative implemented during the run-up to Kenyas
2002 democratic election. The program consisted of 50,000 workshops, lectures, plays,
and puppet shows aimed at promoting civic skills, democratic values, and engagement in
the democratic regime among adult Kenyan citizens. 4.5 million Kenyans participated in
the program, which amounts 15 percent of the total population of Kenya, and the program
affected almost half of all Kenyan citizens either directly or indirectly through discussion
with participants (Finkel & Smith, 2011).
One of the questions Finkel and Smith (2011) raise is whether or not such
programs can disseminate democratic skills and orientations among an electorate in the
short term. They note that it has long been thought that the acquisition of such skills and
orientations would be a long-term process for citizens of newly developing democracies,

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

which would occur along with social modernization and generational replacement (Finkel
& Smith, 2011). Kenyas 2002 elections raised the question of what could be done to
enhance democratic political culture in the year or so leading up to the election. Finkel
and Smiths (2011) results suggest that such short-term acquisition of democratic skills
and orientations can be aided by civic education programs, and provide the most
significant evidence of the three studies reviewed that civic education aids political
development (Finkel & Smith, 2011).
Finkel and Smith (2011) gauge the effect of the Kenyan National Civic Education
Program on participants using a longitudinal design, with data being taken from three
waves of interviews. They also gauge the indirect effects of the program on Kenyan
society at large through the use of questions relating to political discussion among both
participants and non-participants in the program. The studys dependent variables are
political knowledge, participation, tolerance, and sense of national versus tribal
identification. Knowledge is measured using four factual questions related to Kenyan
politics. Participation is measured by asking subjects whether they had worked for a
political party or candidate, participated in community problem solving efforts, attended
a local council meeting, met with government officials, contacted a local or national
official, protested, marched on issue, or contacted local chief or traditional leader (Finkel
& Smith, 2011). Tolerance is gauged by asking subjects whether certain people should be
allowed to speak or stage a peaceful protest. Ethnic or tribal versus national identification
is assessed by asking subjects, How important is being Kenyan? and, How important
is being member of your tribe or ethnic group? (Finkel & Smith, 2011). These factors

THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

are then measured both as they are affected by direct exposure to the National Civic
Education Program, and as they are affected by post-program discussion.
The results for effects on political knowledge align with those of Bell et al. (1996)
and Finkel and Ernst (2005), with participants in the National Civic Education Program
giving correct answers to 12 percent more factual political questions than non
participants. The findings for effects on political tolerance and national versus tribal
identification are also conclusive, and are more significant than the two studies
previously reviewed. Finkel and Smith (2011) find that only political participation is not
significantly affected by civic education when compared to other factors, such as group
membership and political interest. The authors note that this may be due the programs
lack of direct appeals to increase participationthe program encouraged participants to
vote, but little beyond that. Finkel and Smith (2011) view these results as strong evidence
that adult civic education programs are able to affect orientations relevant to democratic
political culture. Finkel and Smith (2011) also find that gains to political knowledge were
greatest among individuals with the lowest levels of education, and that increases in
tolerance and national versus tribal identification were twice as significant for rural
individuals than urban. Thus, the programs effects seem to have been concentrated
among those who needed them the most (Finkel & Smith, 2011).
Findings for post-program discussion effects are also conclusive. This is to be
expected, as a large body of literature suggests that political discussion has an effect on
political development factors. Delli Carpini and Keeter (1996) and Eveland, Hayes, Shah,
and Kwak (2005), find that political discussion promotes general political knowledge.
Mutz (2006) finds that political discussion increases political tolerance and awareness of

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the reasons behind others views. Gibson (2001) finds that political discussion increases
support for democratic institutions and processes. And Lake and Huckfeldt (1998) find
that political discussion increases political participation. Based on such research, Finkel
and Smith (2011) theorize that civic education may lead to more political discussion,
which should in turn lead to further increases in political knowledge, participation, and
democratic orientations. Finkel and Smiths (2011) data substantiates their hypothesis.
They find that over half of all people who participated directly in the National Civic
Education Program discussed workshop experiences with at least three other individuals,
and that individuals who participated in the program were also likely to discuss the
experiences of other participants in the program. This led to 25 percent of all non-NCEP
treated individuals discussing the NCEP experiences of three or more people who had
participated in the program, and 40 percent of control group individuals discussing the
civic education experiences of at least one participant. Thus, the program affected more
individuals who did not participate in the National Civic Education Program than it did
participants. These results are significant considering that discussion affects political
development factors. Finkel and Smith (2011) find that discussing workshop experiences
with three or more people has a greater effect on knowledge, tolerance, and national
identification than attending only one workshop and not engaging in discussion. In light
of how many individuals were indirectly affected by the program, Finkel and Smith
(2011) posit that discussion likely produced more democratic change than direct program
exposure.
Finkel and Smith (2011) conclude that between 40 and 50 percent of all Kenyan
citizens were exposed either directly or indirectly to the messages transmitted by the

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National Civic Education Program during the run-up to the 2002 democratic elections,
which led to increases in political knowledge, tolerance, national versus tribal
identification, and participation throughout the country. The program disproportionately
benefited those who were disadvantaged in education and social resources, and caused
significant post-program discussion, which led to secondary effects that were equal in
magnitude, if not larger in magnitude than the effects of direct exposure. Finkel and
Smith (2011) believe that their results suggest that the potential impact of adult civic
education on strengthening democratic political culture in transition societies is far
beyond what had previously been estimated.
Research producing similar results abounds. Finkel (2002) finds that adults in
nine programs in the Dominican Republic, Poland and South Africa were nearly twice as
likely as control group individuals to attend municipal meetings or participate in
community problem solving activities. In developed countries, studies such as Niemi and
Junns (1998) find that civic education programs bring about somewhat smaller, but still
significant increases in knowledge, participation, and tolerance. Particularly when civic
education programs are taught by likeable, credible teachers, and using open activity
based pedagogical methods, civic education programs have the potential to cause
increases in political knowledge, democratic attitudes, and political engagement, and
ultimately fuel political development in third world countries.
Level of Education and Political Development
Civic education programs with the specific goal of increasing political
knowledge, participation, tolerance, and democratic attitudes succeed in their aims. The
second question addressed here is the effect of years of general education on similar

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factors, with a particular emphasis on participation. One of the most well documented
relationships in education and political science literature is the positive correlation
between years of education and political participation (Meyer & Rubinson, 1975). More
highly educated people are more likely to vote, to participate in campaigns, to attend
meetings, and to contact government officials. Years of education is in many cases the
single best predictor of an individuals engagement with the political system, level of
political tolerance, and adherence to democratic political attitudes (Meyer & Rubinson,
1975). One question this relationship begs is whether the content of education directly
causes these gains, or whether such gains are caused by a confounding variable. It is a
practical policy question if the goal is political development. If education raises absolute
levels of political participation and enlightenment, measures should be taken to keep
students in school and send more students to attend college, as this would raise a
societys absolute level of political engagement and enlightenment. If education is shown
not to cause such gains, then money would better be invested in other institutions and
processes that could better raise levels of political participation, knowledge, and
tolerance.
Hillygus (2005) identifies three diverging explanations for the positive correlation
between level of education and desirable political factors such as political participation
and knowledge. The first is the Civic Education Hypothesis, which posits that the
observed increases in desirable political factors that correspond with rising levels of
education are caused by the content of the education itself. Social studies and political
science courses provide students with the knowledge required to participate in democratic
processes, and language courses provide students with the verbal skills required to

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communicate political ideas, research political candidates and parties, and follow current
events (Hillygus, 2005). The second hypothesis Hillygus identifies is the Social
Network Hypothesis, which points out that if the Civic Education Hypothesis is
correct, then increasing levels of education should lead to a corresponding increase in
levels of political participation. Yet this has been shown not to be the case in some
developed countries. The United States, for example, has experienced dramatic increases
in educational attainment over the past fifty years, and a simultaneous decrease in
political engagement (Hillygus, 2005). The Social Network Hypothesis explains this
observation by concluding that it is not the content of education that increases political
engagement. Rather, increased education confers social status, which leads to social
network centrality, and social network centrality is the largest cause of political
participation. Thus, political participation can only occur through winning a zero-sum
competition for social status, and education helps people win. This implies that more
education does not mean more people will participate, but rather that more education will
make participating more difficult, by requiring individuals to attain higher educational
status if they want to participate (Hillygus, 2005). The third hypothesis identified by
Hillygus (2005) is what he calls the Political Meritocracy Hypothesis, which proposes
that democratic enlightenment and political participation are correlated with educational
attainment, but not caused by it. Rather, both are caused a confounding variable, namely,
intelligence. Intelligence produces both educational attainment and high levels of
political participation and knowledge, and education can do little to increase either innate
intelligence or political development.

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Numerous studies assessing the relationship between educational attainment and
political enlightenment and participation have been conducted in the United States. Such
studies have produced contradictory results. Four such studies are briefly reviewed here,
with the goal of laying a theoretical groundwork. Following this, three studies using data
from developing countries are reviewed, each of which looks at education and political
development on a different continent. It is believed that such a review will provide the
information necessary to accurately assess the relationship between level of education
and political development in lesser-developed countries.
Nie, Junn, and Stehlik-Barrys 1996 book, Education and Democratic Citizenship
in America is the leading study that supports the Social Network Hypothesis, which
suggests that education does not cause increases in political participation by bestowing
necessary knowledge and skills. Rather, education is a sorting mechanism, which gives
people access to politics by giving them social status and social network centrality (Nie et
al., 1996). Nie et al. (1996) look at the 1990 United States Citizen Participation Survey
and analyze the effect of education on two separate variables: democratic enlightenment,
which consists of political knowledge and values, and political participation, which
includes voting, working on a political campaign, protesting, etc. Nie et al.s (1996)
results suggest that democratic enlightenment is primarily influenced by cognitive
proficiency, with verbal skills being particularly important. Thus, they conclude that
democratic enlightenment is to an extent determined by innate intelligence, but that
education can also have a net positive effect on democratic enlightenment by increasing
verbal skills and transmitting political knowledge and ideas (Nie et al., 1996). Less
optimistically, Nie et al. (1996) conclude that education can do little to increase net

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political participation, as political access for new groups always means less access for
others (Nie et al., 1996). Increased education levels will not lead to net increases in
political participation due to the limited capacity of political elites to respond to demands.
Rather, increased educational attainment will merely lead political power holders to make
more fine-grained decisions in regards to who deserves their attention (Nie et al.,1996).
Berinsky and Lenz (2011) obtain results that substantiate Nie et al.s claims. They
begin their argument by pointing to the marked increase in educational attainment that
has occurred in the United States over the past sixty years, and the simultaneous drop in
levels of political participation. They hypothesize that education is less a measure of
ones civic skills than it is an index of status in society, cognitive skills, and personality
traits that leads to civic engagement (Berinsky & Lenz, 2011). The authors proceed to
summarize two studies that suggest opposing conclusions. The first study tracks
individuals who participated in three studies designed to increase high school graduation
rates, and finds that in all three studies, exogenously induced changes in high school
graduation rates led to higher voter turnout. The second study explores the effect of
variation in compulsory education laws, and proximity from an individuals high school
to a 2-year community college, and concludes that educational attainment has a large and
significant impact on levels of engagement. When compulsory education laws require
students to stay in school longer, students are more likely to go on to vote, and when
students live closer to a 2-year community college, and are therefore more likely to attend
some college, they are similarly more likely to vote. Berinsky and Lenz (2011) do not
present an explanation for why the results of these studies differ from their own, and go
on to present their results. Berinsky and Lenz (2011) find that Vietnam War-era men who

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had some college voted 19 percent more than men with no college, without controlling
for variables, but that when variables such as prior political interest are controlled for, the
estimation for the effect of education itself is 6 to 8 percent. This data causes Berinksy
and Lenz (2011) to conclude that education itself has little reliable causal effect on voter
turnout.
Hillygus (2005) assesses a set of data gleaned from the Baccalaureate and Beyond
Longitudinal study, a study that looks at the political participation of American college
students, and finds the civic education hypothesis to be best supported by the data. He
finds that future political participation and enlightenment is related to social science
curriculums in colleges, as well as verbal SAT scores, which suggests that the content of
higher education itself causes increased political participation by increasing verbal skills
and political knowledge. Social Science curriculums, with their emphasis on politics and
history, and language courses, with their emphasis on improving verbal skills, provide
students with the knowledge and skills they need to participate in democratic processes
(Hillygus, 2005).
Campbell (2009) responds to the work of Nie et al. (1996). He begins by
hypothesizing that the claims of Nie et al. (1996) overestimate the extent to which
political participation is competitive. Nie et al. (1996) argue that all forms of political
engagement, including campaign activity, voting, political attentiveness, knowledge of
candidates, and even membership in voluntary organizations, are zero-sum games,
bounded by finite resources and conflict, where ones gain will necessarily be anothers
loss. Campbell (2009) argues that group membership, voting, and expressive activities
such as protesting and signing petitions, should not driven by a zero-sum competition

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over social position, and that the only aspect of participation that should be driven by
competition to a significant extent is electoral activity, which he defines as membership
in political campaigns. Campbell (2009) performs his analysis using data from the 2002
National Civic Engagement Study, and concurs with Nie et al. (1996) that electoral
activity is bounded. His results suggest that participation in political campaigns is largely
dictated by social status, and that the relative nature of social status prevents net gains in
levels of electoral activity from occurring. Campbells (2011) results also align with Nie
et al.s in regards to educations effect on democratic enlightenment. In contrast to
participation in electoral activities, where increased education makes it more difficult for
an individual to participate, democratic enlightenment is universally increased by gains in
educational attainment. Campbell (2011) diverges from Nie et al. in his estimation of the
extent to which voting, group membership, and expressive activities such as protesting
are bounded. His regression analysis of the National Civic Engagement Study data
indicates that increased education causes absolute increases in group membership and
expressive political activities.
The American studies reviewed agree that more education leads to increased
levels of democratic enlightenment, but do not come to a consensus on the precise effect
of increased education on political participation. Nie et al. argue that the majority of
forms of political participation are bounded and competitive, and that net levels of
political participation cannot be increased by increasing levels of education. Campbell
(2011) argues that only participation in campaign activities is a zero-sum game that
cannot be increased by education. Now that a theoretical groundwork has been laid, three

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studies that have been conducted in the third world will be reviewed, and an attempt will
be made to gauge which theory applies to lesser-developed countries.
Syal (2012) looks at the effect of level of education on political development
factors in India, and finds, through a statistical analysis of data gleaned from the 2004
National Election Studies, that increases in education levels cause increased political
participation and interest. Indian citizens have experienced increasing education levels
and literacy rates throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and these gains correspond with
increases in political participation and political interest, particularly in economically
depressed sectors of society. Syals (2012) regression analysis suggests that the
relationship is causal in nature. She finds that 27 percent of Indian citizens who have no
formal education express an interest in politics, 50 percent with a middle school
education express an interest in politics, and 62 percent of Indians with post-graduate or
professional degrees express an interest in politics. Similarly, she finds that 22 percent of
uneducated Indian citizens participate in electoral activities, 37 percent of Indians with a
middle school education participate in electoral activities, and 40 percent of Indians with
at least some college participate in Indian electoral activities. Syal (2012) controls for
demographic factors such as family income and media exposure, and suggests that more
education has increased absolute levels of political interest and participation in India,
primarily through providing citizens with verbal skills and political knowledge, which are
in turn tools that Indian citizens use to understand and participate in politics (Syal, 2012).
Klesner (2007) looks at the effect of various forms of social capital, including
education, on political engagement in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru, and finds that
social capital, especially in the form of nonpolitical organizational involvement and

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volunteering, promotes political participation in Latin America. While this seems to
substantiate the Social Network Hypothesis, which suggests that social capital is the
primary predictor of political participation, Klesner (2007) goes on to note that,
Education and subjective political engagement, measured by levels of interest in politics
and the sense that politics is important, also matter, maybe every bit as much as social
capital (Klesner, 2007, p. 27). Klesner obtains data for the effect size of having had at
least some exposure to higher education on various forms of participation such as signing
a petition, volunteering for a party, and participating in a lawful demonstration, and finds
that it is greater than the effect sizes for other social capital factors such as spending time
socializing with friends, participating in a labor union, or being a member of a church or
professional organization. Klesners (2007) results suggest that while social capital and
social network centrality play a part in determining political participation in the four
Latin American countries studied, education plays a large part as well. Education seems
to have its positive effect on participation in Latin America not only by conferring social
capital, but also by providing individuals with other factorslikely verbal skills and
political knowledgethat enable them to better participate.
Kuenzi (2006) looks at both formal and informal education in rural Senegal, and
obtains results for formal education that are similar to Syals (2012), with increased
formal education causing increased electoral and community participation. Even more
significant are the effects of additional years of non-formal education, or education that is
not government led, but rather instituted by NGOs, with specific educational goals aimed
at specific groups. Kuenzi (2006) assesses four such programs, none of which are directly
aimed at increasing civic participation or political knowledge. Rather, they are

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implemented with the primary goal of increasing literacy among rural Senegalese
villagers. It is found that each year of education in these nonformal education programs
increases participants community leadership, community participation, and the
likelihood that they will vote and contact a government official. 51 percent of rural
Senegalese villagers who received 0 years of non-formal education voted in the 2000
Senegalese election, 60 percent who received 1 to 2 years of non-formal education voted,
and 66 percent who received 2 to 3 years voted. Similarly, 8 percent of rural Senegalese
individuals with 0 years of non-formal education exhibited high levels of community
participation, 22 percent of those with 1 to 2 years of non-formal education exhibited
high levels of community participation, and 35 percent of those with 2 to 3 years
exhibited high levels of community participation (Kuenzi, 2006). These numbers are
obtained controlling for confounding variables such as prior political engagement and
media exposure, and a causal mechanism, as opposed to a proxy or social network
mechanism is hypothesized. Similar to the other studies of lesser-developed countries, the
results indicate that the effects of education are absolute, and that the content of the
education increases citizens ability to participate, primarily by increasing their verbal
skills and political knowledge. Kuenzi (2006) also notes that the effects are concentrated
among those with the lowest levels of formal education and social capital, and women,
who, the author notes, are often excluded from the formal education process.
A review of the literature suggests that education plays a different role in
developed and lesser-developed countries. In the American studies reviewed, there is
debate as to whether the content of education causes increased participation through
providing political knowledge and verbal skills, or whether education merely confers

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social status. In the third world studies reviewed, there is little debate; the civic education
hypothesis applies. Increased educational attainment in lesser-developed countries causes
pronounced net gains in political interest and participation, particularly among those with
the lowest levels of social capital, and it is hypothesized that education is accomplishing
this by improving verbal skills and providing political knowledge, which leads
individuals to develop an interest in politics, better understand political ideas, and
ultimately, participate in political processes.
Conclusions
Both civic education programs and level of education affect political
development. Civic education programs in newly emerging democracies increase
individuals levels of political knowledge, political participation, adherence to democratic
attitudes, and national versus tribal identification. Additionally, more general education
causes gains to be made in similar areas by increasing verbal skills and political
knowledge. The conclusion to be drawn from this is that civic education programs and
increased levels of education promote political development in lesser-developed
countries by providing citizens with the skills and knowledge required to participate and
function in a democratic society. It is clear that education can be a vital tool for
democratization and political development.

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