Human Capital and Social Capital in the Creation of Political Participation in Switzerland

Political participation is essential for a well‐functioning democracy. Although political participation is linked to the level of education, little research investigates the political participation of people with a low level of education. This study examines whether the effect of low education on political participation can be offset by social capital, using a novel data set from 2022 comprising 4,000 respondents residing in Switzerland. The interaction analysis reveals a moderating effect of social capital, particularly informal volunteering, on the relationship between education and political participation: for individuals who volunteer, the educational effect on political participation is only about half as strong as for those who do not volunteer. This result suggests that social capital can partially compensate for a low level of education.