Do countries with less democratic forms of government have lower literacy rates as a consequence?
Using a random sample of 4,600+ individuals from military archives in Portugal, we
show that 20-year old males were twice as likely to end up literate under an authoritarian regime
than under a democratic one. Our results are robust to controlling for a host of factors including
economic growth, the disease environment, and regional fixed effects. We argue for a political
economy and cultural explanation for the success of the authoritarian regime in promoting basic
education.