Education
In any study of
long-term factors affecting voting behavior, education is often overlooked. This
is somewhat perplexing given that educational attainment does have some impact upon where
people put their cross on the ballot paper. For instance, the Democrats appeal to a curious blend
of the least educated and the highly educated. They gain votes from those with
limited economic opportunities and the ‘limousine liberals’ satirized by
conservative commentators throughout the country.
The link between
education and voting behavior bears relevance to a previous post
regarding income. A low level of educational achievement often limits a
person’s job opportunities. Similarly, high educational achievement often
improves a person’s job prospects. In terms of the latter, those
with high levels of educational achievement tend to hold liberal sensibilities
and are disproportionately more likely to work for the government in some form.
Both these factors will inevitably lead them towards voting for the Democrats.
In 2012, Obama’s lead amongst post-graduates over Romney was 13%.
There is a widely-held
stereotype within political discourse concerning the
educated liberal and the less educated conservative. Both Democrats and
Republicans do at times like to engage in this portrayal, albeit for very different
reasons. Republicans seek to contrast their common-sense values against the
metropolitan liberal elite. Republicans also like to portray their
well-educated liberal opponents as hypocrites living in an ivory tower of
self-righteousness. Equally, Democrats may sneer at the lack of sophistication
and culture characterized by a certain 'type' of Republican (such as George W.
Bush, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin). Frankly, we should all try to recognize and then move beyond such lazy assumptions. For instance, there
are several conservative intellectuals such as Ayn Rand (1957), Irving
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