The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted civic life worldwide. On an individual level, research underscores the role of civic engagement in fostering resilience and psychological well-being in the aftermath of collective trauma. However, whether institutional investment in education facilitates a society's civic engagement rebound after a global pandemic has received little empirical investigation. Understanding this link can reveal how long-term public investments shape collective capacity to recover from large-scale adversities. This work examines whether long-term investment in education supports countries' civic engagement recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting education's role in community resilience following collective adversities.
Using Gallup World Poll and World Bank data from 2017-2022 across 211 countries, we used multilevel mixed-effects models to analyse country-level changes in civic engagement. Time was a within-country factor, pre-COVID education spending (% of GDP) was a between-country moderator, and country intercepts were random. Preliminary analyses point to a positive time and education investment interaction: countries with higher pre-COVID educational investment tend to show a steeper post-2020 increase in civic engagement. Pairwise contrasts indicate a pronounced increase after 2020, especially in better-funded countries.


These findings suggest that long-term educational investment may strengthen societies' capacity for faster civic recovery from collective adversity, complementing the benefits observed at the individual level. Beyond its positive effect on economic development, education appears to play a pivotal role in fostering community resilience and revitalization of civic life following global disruptions.