publication

Democracy, education and the quality of government

Authors:
Ugo PANIZZA
Piergiuseppe FORTUNATO
2015

This paper looks at how the interaction between democracy and education affects the quality of government. Using various cross-sectional and dynamic panel data specifications, we show that the success of democratic institutions is closely related to the educational attainment of the population. Democratic elections do not foster the quality of government in countries with low average levels of education. Education, in turn, has a positive effect on the quality of government only in consolidated democracies.