Schooling Citizens: Education, Citizenship, And Democracy In Mali

Abstract

: This dissertation draws on original data, including a survey of 1000 citizens, to demonstrate the effect of different types of education on political knowledge and political participation in a nascent, African democracy. I find that any level of education, even informal and Islamic education, is positively and significantly correlated with higher levels of political knowledge as compared to having attend no school at all. I find that formal education, particularly at the secondary and university level, is significantly correlated with higher levels of political participation in difficult activities: campaigning, willingness to run for office, and contacting a government official. I argue that education contributes to political knowledge and participation by building citizens‟ sense of internal efficacy, and that the highest levels of education can endow citizens with French literacy - a key component of full political empowerment. Additionally, I identify a positive, significant correlation between parents who enroll(ed) their children in public school, and certain forms of electoral participation, as compared to other Malian citizens. I find a negative, significant correlation between madrassa consumers and voting as compared to any other citizens. I argue that state schooling, as a social service, can foster voting among parents of students through policy feedback mechanisms; however, any form of Francophone schooling contributes to a family‟s ability to participate in politics by endowing them with a linguistic broker. i