The Education of Nations: How the Political Organization of the Poor, Not Democracy, Led Governments to Invest in Mass Education

What causes a government to invest--or not invest--in poor citizens, especially mass education? In The Education of Nations, Stephen Kosack focuses on three radically different developing countries whose developmental trajectories bear little resemblance to each other--Brazil, Ghana, and Taiwan--and offers an elegant and pragmatic answer to this crucially important question. Quite simply, the level of investment in mass education is the product of one of two simple conditions, one political and one economic. The first condition is the nature and success of political entrepreneurs at organizing the poor politically; the second is the flexibility of the labor market faced by employers who need skilled workers. Drawing from a half-century of evidence, he has found that irrespective of every other factor, these two conditions alone explain whether education is available to the poor or restricted to elites as well as many of the key features of education systems. An empirically rich and theoretically novel study, The Education of Nations will change how we think about the developing world's approach to education and development.

Table of Contents:
Preface: Mass Education that Should Not Be ; 1.The Two Roots of Mass Education ; Part I: The Framework ; 2. The Government's Educational Goals ; 3. Building the Education System ; Part II: Evidence ; 4. Taiwan ; 5. Ghana ; 6. Brazil ; 7. Conclusion ; Appendix A: Selection of Taiwan, Ghana, and Brazil ; Appendix B: List of Interviews ; References ; Index

About the Author :
Assistant Professor of Government, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government

Review :
Democratization leads to the expansion of education in developing nations. Or so conventional wisdom would have it. But in this innovative book, Stephen Kosack argues that conventional wisdom is often quite wrong. He develops a new theory that, by going beyond regime type to consider the logic of politics, puts the explanatory emphasis not on whether the poor are simply allowed to vote, but rather on whether political entrepreneurs have been able to organize them as a powerful constituency . His three, well-chosen case studies provide empirical support, adding illuminating detail about real education systems, their politics, and their development. This is a provocative argument destined to stimulate debate, new thinking, and new research on a topic of great importance. An excellent work that goes beyond platitudes about democracy and education by offering a fine-grained analysis of the conditions in which quality primary education emerges. With lucid reasoning and breathtaking empirical scope, Stephen Kosack offers a bold new theory of policymaking that explains why democracies often fail to produce pro-poor policies. The Education of Nations is vital reading for anyone interested in inequality, poverty, and sustainable development in the Global South.