Let’s Stock Up on Democracy Stock

In the U.S., analyses of voting patterns frequently highlight how candidate selection is influenced by whether the voter has a four-year college degree. In the UK, surveys found that people with low education were those most likely to favor Britain leaving the European Union.
     One view is that those with a college degree make political decisions reflecting greater tolerance of diversity. Educational achievement could lead to this by developing critical thinking skills and exposing students to a broad range of ideas. Still, there are exceptions. In European countries with a neo-nationalist political party, it is the most-highly educated nationalists who vote for candidates from that party.
     This attention by political scientists to level of education comes alongside warnings that authoritarianism is eating away at democracy in America and internationally. Takanori Sumino at Japan’s Ritsumeikan University found a twist in the relationship of the two: When a country has accumulated considerable democratic traditions and experiences, a citizen’s advanced education steers them away from uncritical loyalty to their country. Blind patriotism is related to favoring authoritarian leadership and hostility toward those who disagree politically. In the studies, blind patriotism was measured as agreement with the statement “People should support their country even if the country is in the wrong.”
     On the other hand, in countries with limited “democratic stock,” as Dr. Sumino calls the accumulation of traditions and experiences, educational achievement had less influence on the avoidance of blind patriotism. In the pattern of relationships, democratic stock exerted more influence on the effects of advanced education than did the current state of democracy in the country.
     The argument is that resistance to authoritarianism builds up over generations of democratic traditions and experiences. Studies at University of Amsterdam and University of Lausanne find another generational influence: A higher level of educational achievement in a parent increases the probability of the children pursuing further education. Along with this, the parents inculcate offspring with their political views in addition to their views about getting a college degree. The studies contend that what’s seen as the effect of education on voting patterns might be more accurately seen as the effects of parents on their children’s subsequent voting patterns.
     However we view it, it appears that protections against dictatorship arise from cultivating respect for democracy’s advantages, engaging in the traditions of democracy like petitioning and voting, and consciously warning the next generation about authoritarianism’s dangers.

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