Making citizens: The effects of attending a public versus a privately managed school on voter turnout

Abstract In this article, we examine how voter turnout is affected by attending a public versus a privately managed school in Sweden. Despite the rapid increase in school voucher programs throughout the world, few studies have examined the effects of attending a private voucher school on political participation, and research outside the US context is scarce. Sweden represents a different institutional context from those examined in previous research, as practically all privately managed schools—including for‐profit schools—are publicly funded and operate under the same regulatory conditions as public schools. Applying a regression‐discontinuity design and registry data, we find no significant difference in turnout between students who attended schools of the two types. Overall, our results suggest that public and privately managed schools could be just as capable of providing citizens with the resources to participate politically, as long as they operate under the same constraints regarding regulation and funding.