Educational divide between voters: A nationwide trend?

TitleEducational divide between voters: A nationwide trend?
Publication TypeWorking Paper
Year of Publication2024
AuthorsPittau, MG, Politano, F, Zelli, R
Number24_08
ISBN Number978 88 68515 188
KeywordsHierarchical Bayes methods, Income, education and voting, Inequality, Multilevel models
Abstract

Objectives. The increasing of higher education in almost all the Western democracies, has driven the growth of a mass graduate class. Has this produced an increase in partisan voting differences between lower-educated and high-educated? Does education affect in the same way low-income and high-income voters? Methods. We examine 2020 post-election data in the United States as a whole and in the states and we allow interaction between education and income at both individually and state level. Results. We find no clear pattern in educational attainment when associated with income. Education matters differently between low-income and high income voters. After controlling for individual characteristics and state-level of wealth, interaction between education and income results in a more complicated pattern of class-based voting than we might expect based on education and income alone.

Citation Key8568
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