Publication

Drawing on the example of Zimbabwe, this paper examines the causal relationship between education and non-contentious political participation under electoral authoritarianism. The authors find that, under this system, education decreases political participation, substantially reducing the likelihood that better-educated citizens vote, contact politicians, or attend community meetings. This is consistent with the deliberate disengagement theory put forward by the authors, according to which educated people deliberately abstain from political participation to show dissent.