While the robust and positive relationship between education and political engagement has been widely documented, the direct causal link is still a subject of debate. This study contributes to the ongoing debate by presenting suggestive evidence for the ‘cause’ view on the causal effect of education on political engagement. Exploiting the plausibly exogenous variation in education induced by the compulsory schooling reforms across 39 countries, we find that education cultivates political interest, promotes the acquisition of political knowledge, and fosters supportive attitudes towards political freedoms. Nevertheless, the better educated are no more likely to vote in elections nor adopt any specific position in the left–right political spectrum.

虽然教育和政治参与之间牢固而积极的关系已被广泛记录，但直接的因果关系仍然是一个有争议的话题。本研究通过提供有关教育对政治参与因果关系的“原因”观点的暗示性证据，为正在进行的辩论做出了贡献。利用 39 个国家义务教育改革引起的教育中看似合理的外生变化，我们发现教育培养了政治兴趣，促进了政治知识的获取，并培养了对政治自由的支持态度。尽管如此，受过良好教育的人不太可能在选举中投票，也不太可能在左右政治光谱中采取任何特定立场。