Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

education group, and the high- education group gave the most democratic response to every question,
whether compared with other educational, community or in- come grouping” (1960). The two
researchers also concluded that, more correct answers “came from those with high education than from
those with less education” (Prothro & Grigg, 1960). In order to determine whether this effect was
spurious in terms of the disproportional amount of highly educated respondents in the sample, they tested
the other control variables and determined that education still had the same influence (Prothro & Grigg,
1960). They concluded that, “people with high education accept democratic principles more than any
other grouping” (Prothro & Grigg, 1960).
A similar empirical study was performed by Herbert McClosky (1964). He investigated the level of
support for democratic principles between the “political elite” (individuals educated in political matters) and
the general population (McClosky, 1964). He predicted that the political elite will “exhibit a more
meaningful and far reaching consensus on democratic and constitutional values than will the general
population” (McClosky, 1964). He developed a research process that included “two separate samples”, one
of 3,000 respondents “drawn from the delegates and altern- ates who had attended the Democratic and
Republican conventions of 1956” (McClosky, 1964). The second sample consisted of a representative
sample of 1,500 US adults from a Gallup Poll (McClosky, 1964). Respondents from both samples
“received the same questionnaire” that consisted of questions in terms of two categories: “Rules of the game
and democratic values” (McClosky, 1964). Rules of the game questions consist of those pertaining to
specific values of democratic rights, especially those with “particular emphasis upon fair play, respect for
legal procedures, and consideration for the rights of others” (McClosky, 1964). The democratic values are
the basic democratic principles such as those that “express belief in freedom of speech and opinion” in an
abstract way, and don’t emphasize a specific action (McClosky, 1964).
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