The Lessons Private Schools Teach: Using a Field Experiment to Understand the Effects of Private Services on Political Behavior

Abstract

Government services act as important sites of political socialization. Through interactions with the state individuals learn lessons about their value as citizens, form preferences over government services, and understand the value of political participation. What happens when the private sector replaces government provision of basic services? I explore this question in the context of a randomized private school voucher experiment in India. Based on an original household survey of 1200 households, and semi-structured interviews conducted 5 years after the voucher lottery, I find that voucher winning households hold stronger market-oriented beliefs. However, voucher winning households show little difference in political participation on most measures of political participation. I argue that these results are driven by a greater comfort with private providers as permanent economic actors. This suggests exposure to different economic actors, in the form of private schools, have the potential to change political preferences.