Nonformal Education, Political Participation, and Democracy: Findings from Senegal

Abstract

The relationship between nonformal education (NFE) and democracy has not been subject to empirical examination. Given the prominence that NFE has gained in many countries, such as those in Africa, this inattention is unfortunate. Using data from a survey involving a probability sample of 1484 Senegalese citizens, this paper examines the effects of education, both formal and nonformal, on political participation among rural Senegalese. The results indicate that NFE and formal education tend to have similar effects on several political behaviors, but the effect of NFE generally appears to be stronger. NFE has a positive impact on political participation. NFE increases the likelihood that one will vote and contact officials regarding community and personal problems. In addition, NFE has a strong, positive impact on community participation.

Appendices

Appendix A: Question Wording

Dependent Variables

Community Participation

The Community participation index is an additive index comprised of five indicators.

• (1) Have you ever worked or cooperated with others in this village/town to try to solve some of the problems of this village/town? 0=No, 1=Yes.

• (2) Are you a member of any community association or organization? 0=No, 1=Yes.

• (3) How often do you speak out in public at these meetings: always, often, sometimes, rarely, or never? 0=Never, Recoded 1=Rarely, Sometimes, Often or Always.²²

• (4) Here is a list of things that people sometimes do as citizens. Please tell me how often you, personally, have done any of these things during the last 5 years: getting together with others to raise an issue? 0=Never, Recoded 1=Only Once, Sometimes, or Often

• (5) Which leadership position, if any, do you hold or did you hold in any of these organizations? Recoded 0=None, 1=President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, or Other, please specify_———.

Scale Reliability Coefficient: .68

Community Contacting

During the last 5 years, how often have you contacted––that is gone to see or spoken to––any of the following leaders or government officials to obtain help in resolving a community problem?

Response set: Never=0, only once=1, sometimes=2, often=3

• A. a village chief

• B. a member of the rural council

• C. a National Assembly representative

• D. the governor

• E. an official of a government ministry

• F. a marabout

• G. the prefet

• H. the sous-prefet

• I. some other influential person, please specify

Scale Reliability Coefficient: .87

Personal Contacting

During the last 5 years, how often have you contacted––that is gone to see or spoken to––any of the following leaders or government officials to obtain help in resolving a personal problem?

Response set: Never=0, only once=1, sometimes=2, often=3

• A. a village chief

• B. a member of the rural council

• C. a National Assembly representative

• D. the governor

• E. an official of a government ministry

• F. a marabout

• G. the prefet

• H. the sous-prefet

• I. some other influential person, please specify

Scale Reliability Coefficient: .72

Electoral Participation

Understanding that some Senegalese choose not to vote, let me ask you: Did you vote in the second round of the Presidential election of February 2000? [0=No; 1=Yes]

Note: This variable is electoral participation among the eligible population, not just those registered to vote. Thus, those who were not registered to vote at the time of the 2000 presidential election are coded as 0. Excluded is the very small number (n=12) of respondents who reported being under age at the time of registration.

Independent Variables

NFE

How many years of literacy training have you had? [Several questions about NFE preceded this one.]

Formal Education

How many years of formal education have you had?

Control Variables

Number of Organizational Memberships

Are you a member of any community association or organization? 0=No, 1=Yes [Respondents were asked about up to three organizational memberships.]

Political Engagement

Close to Political Party

Do you feel close to a political party? 0=No, 1=Yes

Political Interest

How interested are you in politics and government? 0=Not interested, 1=Somewhat interested, 2=Very interested

Discuss Politics

How often do you discuss politics and government with other people? 0=Never, 1=Sometimes, 2=Often

News from Radio

How often do you get news from: the radio? 0=Never, 1=Less than once a month, 2=About once a month, 3=About once a week, 4=Several times a week, 5=Every day

Efficacy

Internal Locus of Control

Now we will return to pairs of statements. Please tell me which one you agree with most. Choose Statement A or Statement B. [Enumerator: Probe: “Do you agree strongly or just somewhat?”]

• A: To a great extent, my life is controlled by accidental happenings.

• Recoded: 0=Agree Strongly, or Agree Somewhat with Statement A.

• B: For the most part, I am responsible for what happens to me.

• Recoded: 1=Agree Strongly or Agree Somewhat with Statement B.

Personal Political Efficacy

I am now going to give you several pairs of statements. Please tell me which one you agree with most. Choose Statement A or Statement B. [Enumerator: Probe: “Do you agree strongly or just somewhat?”]

• A: In discussions about politics with friends and neighbors, I can influence the opinions of others.

• Recoded: 1=Agree Strongly or Agree Somewhat with Statement A.

• B: As far as politics are concerned, friends and neighbors do not listen to me.

• Recoded: 0=Agree Strongly, or Agree Somewhat with Statement B.

Demographic Variables

Income

What is your monthly income? [Response set: 0=No income; 1=Less than 10,000; 2=Between 10,000 and 30,000; 3=Between 31,000 and 50,000; 4=Between 51,000 and 100,000; 5=Between 101,000 and 150,000; 6=Between 151,000 and 200,000; 7=Between 201,000 and 300,000; 8=Between 301,000 and 400,000; 9=Between 401,000 and 500,000; 10=Between 501,000 and 700,000; 11=Between 701,000 and 900,000; 12=Between 901,000 and 1,100,000; 13=More than 1,100,000]

Age

How old were you at on your last birthday?

Value corresponds to actual age of respondent

Gender

Coded by interviewer [0=male; 1=female]

Region

Coded by interviewer

Ethnicity

What is your ethnicity? [Response set: 1=HaalPulaar; 2=Fulbe; 3=Wolof; 4=Sonninke; 5=Bamabara; 6=Majak; 7=Serer; 8=Other, please specify___]

Appendix B: Community Participation

One of the main hypotheses I sought to test in this project was that NFE has a positive effect on community participation. I think community participation should be considered an outcome variable produced by NFE as opposed to an independent variable for a number of reasons. Between 1989 and 2001, I conducted qualitative interviews with well over 100 people involved in NFE and visited countless villages with (and without) NFE programs. In the vast majority of the interviews, the respondents volunteered immediately that the most salient effect of NFE was that it stimulated community participation. Indeed, one of the organizational directors with whom I spoke could think of little else when I asked about the outcomes of NFE training. In the qualitative interviews, most NFE participants did not volunteer political engagement as a result of NFE, without prompting, although I suspected that NFE was likely to stimulate political participation. On the other hand, with no prompting at all, when NFE participants were asked about results of the training, with striking frequency they volunteered that they had taken up leadership positions in associations because of their new literacy skills, had begun attending community meetings and speaking up at these meetings, and had begun to work with others to, for example, put in a vegetable garden. I lived and volunteered in Medina Cherif, a small Fulbe village in southern Senegal, in 1989, when an NFE program was first established in this village. I returned there in 1993 and 1998 and found that organizational life had blossomed.

Those writing on the effects of NFE in Latin America also claim that NFE stimulates community participation. Thus, the results of my qualitative research efforts, the qualitative studies of NFE in different regions of the world, and logic all point to a relationship between NFE and community participation. In this study, I test the hypothesis that NFE does stimulate community participation. After controlling for a plethora of other factors such as political engagement, feelings of personal and political efficacy, living in a village with an NFE program, level of formal education, and many other demographic variables, the results of my study still strongly support the hypothesis.

As noted earlier, I did not include number of organizational memberships in the community participation models since two of the indicators comprising the community participation index are directly related to this variable. Nonetheless, Table B.1 displays the full models of community participation with and without organizational involvement so that the reader can see that NFE has a highly significant positive effect on community participation even when organizational involvement is included in the model.

Table B.1. Models of Community Participation