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Do Francophone and Islamic schooling communities participate differently? Disaggregating parents' political behaviour in Mali

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2013

Jaimie Bleck
Jaimie Bleck*
Affiliation:
Ford Family Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, 217 O'Shaugnessy Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
*
Email: jbleck@nd.edu
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Abstract

Despite strong empirical evidence of the influence of religious brokers on political mobilisation in Africa, we know very little about the individual-level relationship between religious association and political behaviour. Drawing upon an emerging comparative literature on the effect of social service provision on political participation, this article asks whether Malian consumers of Islamic schooling are as likely to seize new democratic opportunities for electoral participation as their peers who send their children to public schools. Using an original survey of 1,000 citizens, exit polling and interviews, this analysis demonstrates that parents who enrol their children in madrasas are less likely than other respondents to report voting. Conversely, parents who send their children to public schools are more likely to participate in electoral politics.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 377 - 408
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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