The effect of education in support of democracy in Malawi

It is assumed that education has an important influence on people’s understanding of and support for democracy. The World Bank argues that investment in education is essential for advancing towards democracy and improved governance. Is this the case, however, in newly democratic developing countries with low levels of education?

In developedcountries with a long history of democracy there is a considerable amount ofevidence of a positive relationship between education and support fordemocracy. This relationship holds also in recently democratised societies in Eastern Europe. In both cases, most children have accessto secondary school education and the focus of research has therefore been onthe effect that tertiary levels of education have on attitudes towardsdemocracy.

As there has beenrelatively little research into this issue in developing countries,particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, a study by researchers at the University of Oxford and University of Sussex examined the impact of different levels ofschooling on people’s attitudes towards democracy in Malawi. The study analysed Afrobarometer data fromMalawi collected in 1999, at a time when mostvoters would have been educated under the former dictatorship of PresidentBanda. It places particular emphasis on the effects of primary schooling asmost voters have not been educated beyond this level.

After threedecades of President Banda’s rule, economic recession and internal and externalpressure finally led to multi-party elections in 1994. The new government abolishedprimary school fees, resulting in a 50 percent increase in enrolment. However, Malawi has yet to achieve universal primaryschooling, with three-quarters of those who enroldropping out. An important question, therefore, is whether primary schooling contributesto mass support for democracy.

Findings of thestudy included the following:

• Educationis strongly related to support for democracy, even if schooling occurred duringauthoritarian rule.
• Primaryschooling, even if not completed, has a positive effect on people’s preferencefor democracy.
• However,a more nuanced view of democracy, which involves the explicit rejection ofalternatives to democratic rule, is strongly associated with secondary andhigher levels of education experience
• Moreover,incomplete primary education goes hand in hand with lower levels ofunderstanding of the meaning of democracy.

The researchsupports the views of external agencies such as the World Bank that increasingaccess to education will improve support for democracy. There are a number ofimplications for policy:

• Educationappears to be a good investment in any attempt to promote democratic cultures,as it is an effective tool even at the primary level.
• Abasic level of support for democracy can be attained by increasing the numberof students who complete primary education.
• However,more robust support for democracy requires participation at secondary andhigher levels of education
• Asthese gains are experienced even where education is provided underauthoritarian rule, careful consideration needs to be given to the benefits ofinvesting in specific citizenship education, given limitations of time andresources in schools.