A political cleavage created by disparities in educational attainment has emerged among voters across the democratic West. In this year’s presidential election, Donald Trump attracted a large share of the vote from whites without a college degree, receiving 72 percent of the white non-college male vote and 62 percent of the white non-college female vote, according to CNN exit polls.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom’s June referendum on its European Union membership, 75 percent of voters with a post-secondary degree voted to remain in the EU while 73 percent of voters without one voted to leave the EU. Like Trump’s movement, the Brexit campaign was defined by frustration with rising immigration and declining economic prospects, a populist anger towards elites and established institutions, and an impassioned appeal to nationalism.
Examining the makeup of these populist constituencies suggests that educational attainment helps explain the forces shaping this Transatlantic backlash. CONT.
William A. Galston & Clara Hendrickson, Brookings Institution
