Abstract
Numerous historical examples suggest that universities are hotbeds of political protest. However, the generality and causal nature of this relationship has never been properly quanti fied. This paper investigates whether universities give rise to political protest, drawing on global geocoded information on the location and characteristics of universities, matched with geocoded data on political protest events in the 1991-2016 period, at the sub-national level in 62 countries in Africa and Central America. Our analysis indicates that local communities with more universities are more likely to experience mass protest. Drawing on different tests, such as quasi-random variation in the timing of academic semesters, and IV models utilizing historical patterns in colonial-era university placement, we propose that this relationship is due to the presence of universities, rather than other characteristics of these locations. We also explore the nature of university-protests, showing that the impact of universities on protest is stronger in dictatorships, and that university-related protests are more likely to be related to democracy and human rights. These findings suggest that universities cause protest partly by shaping political preferences and ideology.
Highlights
Universities are often considered hotbeds of political protest
We pose the questions: Do locations with more universities see more political protest? If so, do universities induce these protests? And what are the characteristics of university-related protests? Protest events come in many different forms, ranging from spontaneous and apolitical riots to large-scale and organized demonstrations aiming to overthrow regimes
We find that university-related protests are more often concerned with political issues such as democracy and human rights, but less commonly related to economic grievances and food-concerns
Summary
Universities are often considered hotbeds of political protest. Images of student protests in the 1960s, on campuses such as Berkeley and La Sorbonne, are iconic examples of student radicalism and revolt. Our finding that universities facilitate protest is consistent with the claims of “modernization theory,” connecting economic modernization more generally (of which education is an instance) to societal change driven by collective action (Inglehart & Welzel, 2005; Welzel, 2013). It speaks to recent findings on how modern social infrastructures—such as communication technology and education—conduces political instability and mass uprisings (e.g., Dafoe & Lyall, 2015)
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