Provides a brief historical background on political education in England. Describes four reasons for the development of political education policies during the 1970s, the three types of political education (political literacy, 'new' or 'adjectival' education, and education for citizenship) promoted from 1969-98, and four trends across political…

Observes that it is often assumed that European citizenship education will be directly related to values education and will be implemented through history instruction. Argues that the meaning of key terms in the citizenship education debate are unclear and that research into the problems of such education is needed. (DSK)