Education and Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Abstract The relationship between education and democracy has been empirically researched since the late 1950s, with most evidence stemming from global datasets. Initial results showed no relationship between education and democracy after looking at the within-country estimation. But, as more advanced statistical methods emerged, addressing endogeneity problems of the within-country estimation, a statistically significant relationship between education, measured through average years of total schooling, and democracy appeared. However, all studies have looked at the association broadly, and only a handful have applied this nexus to the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. By creating a new dataset incorporating thirty countries, this study shows that education is statistically significantly associated with democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Results are robust to multiple other covariates and mirror the ones reported in the academic literature. This study echoes the continued focus on education, especially in light of recent developments and multiple organisations announcing that democracy declined worldwide.