Civic Learning on Campus: Bringing Political Science In Mini-Conference I: Schools and Democracy: How Varieties of Education Matter for Citizenship

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Part of Mini-Conference

• Civic Learning on Campus: Bringing Political Science In Mini-Conference I

Session Description

How do different types of education contribute to democratic citizenship around the world? Political scientists have long been interested in the relationship between citizens’ educational attainment and their level of political participation. However, we have paid much less attention to how distinct types of education influence diverse aspects of citizenship. Does the public, private and/or religious administration of schools influence the effect of education on students’ subsequent participation? Does the content of the curriculum matter for turnout, vote choice and political attitudes? Does attending university domestically or in foreign country have similar effects on citizens’ political views? This panel brings together a diverse set of scholars and research papers to shed light on these questions. We draw on the panel participants’ research and expertise in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and the MENA region to show how distinct educational experiences have heterogenous effects on citizens’ political participation, vote choice and political attitudes. In Mexico, variation in the content of civic education between 1960 and 2000 matters for its effects on citizens’ turnout. In Sudan, foreign training in Islamic educational institutions in Arab countries increases support for fundamentalist Islamic parties. In Zambia, education in Catholic versus secular primary schools decreases support for progressive gender attitudes. Across Latin America, citizens who attend private versus public schools have less support for the social contract. In Peru, access to university education changes the types of local politicians who get elected to office and how they govern. The panelists draw on diverse research methods to support their claims, including text analysis, life histories, and differences-in-differences regression. The panel also brings together scholars at varied career stages (from graduate students to associate professors) and at diverse institutions on multiple continents.

Sub Unit

• Theme Panel

Cosponsor

• Division 12: Comparative Politics of Developing Countries

Individual Presentations

• When Does Education Promote Participation? The Role of Curriculum Reforms - Agustina S. Paglayan, UCSD; Francisco Garfias, University of California, San Diego

• Conservative Islam and Politics: Examining the Role of Arab Foreign Education - Aala Abdelgadir, Stanford University

• The Gendered Effects of Church versus State Education: Evidence from Zambia - Katharine A. Baldwin, Yale University; Eran Rubinstein, Yale University

• Opting Out from Public Schools and the Social Contract in Latin America - Ana Lorena De La O Torres, Yale University; Pilar Manzi, Northwestern University; Cecilia Rossel, Universidad Católica del Uruguay

• Eligible Bachelors? How University Education Harms Performance by Mayors in Peru - John Marshall, Columbia University; Horacio Larreguy, ITAM; Miguel Angel Carpio, Universidad de Piura

Chair

• Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro Brown University

Discussants

• Joan Ricart-Huguet Loyola University Maryland

• Elizabeth Parker-Magyar Massachusetts Institute of Technology