Does Education Make Voters More Leftist or More Rightist? A West vs. East Cross-Regional Analysis
Does Education Make Voters More Leftist or More Rightist? A West vs. East Cross-Regional Analysis

Summary/Abstract: Education is one of the most important determinants of political preferences and voting behavior. However, the direction of this impact is not universal. In a less developed, post-Communist polity like Romania, education is negatively correlated with support for the left. In a post-industrial democracy like France, increased education translates into more support for the moderate left (i.e., the ˮpost-materialist” left, Socialists and Ecologists). We explain these differences as the joint effect of recent historical experiences and the current level of economic, social and political development of the two polities.

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