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30. An alternative explanation is that the phenomenon is due to life-cycle effects. Without panel data, we could not rule out this important competing explanation; that is, young people are more concerned about politics because they are more energetic, but when they grow old, they leave public life and behave the same way as their predecessors. However, our findings suggest that this explanation is unlikely to be the case. Instead, generational effects better explain the relationship between age and political interests. Because the younger generation is better educated, they are more likely to be interested in politics.

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