This article tests whether the form of decision-making used in school environments affects pupils' views on the legitimacy of the decisions made, and of the decision-making procedure. Building on political science theory on democratic decision-making, it compares pupils' reactions towards decisions made by pupil councils, by pupils via referendum,…

Learner participation in South Africa was legislated in 1996 through the South African Schools Act, No. 84. Since then it has been a legal requirement to establish representative councils of learners (RCL) at secondary schools (with Grade 8 and higher) countrywide. I investigate the perspectives and experiences of participation with secondary…

According to social scientists Herfried Munkler in Germany and Colin Crouch in England, major developments in Western industrial societies--individualism, increasing social complexity, globalisation--present serious threats to basic requirements of stable societies and expose democracy to the corrosion of its socio-moral resources such as social…

The purpose of every university is to contribute to the public good by educating socially responsible, civically minded, engaged citizens. In the context of a developing country such as Mexico, with multiple challenges of social, political and economic order, the role of universities in preparing future leaders and civically engaged citizens is…

Studies have found that prior involvement in student politics while in school seems to be a good predictor of adult political engagement. While most studies of adults have obtained retrospective data on participation in school elections, there have been few studies of students about this activity. We contribute to this latter relatively unexplored…

While children and young people's participation is a well-established research field, much less has been written about the roles that adults play in supporting this participation. This article examines the involvement of adults within participatory forums in English schools and local authorities. Drawing on empirical data from research on…

Children's right to participate as enshrined in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is increasingly evident in the rhetoric of policy documents as well as in practice and research with children and young people. Children's participation in research is being facilitated in a range of creative ways, including as…

This article concentrates on two pieces of legislation promulgated in the early 1960s in order to investigate the broader ideas and concerns surrounding political education in the postwar Federal Republic of Germany. These pieces of educational policy highlight the consensus for continued reform while recognizing the value of curricular and…

The racial desegregation of the student bodies of historically white universities in South Africa has had significant political implications for student politics and university governance. I discuss two key moments in the governance history of the University of Cape Town (UCT) critically. The first involves the experience of racial parallelism in…

Discusses student representation in academic government with particular reference to the academic boards of the 30 designated polytechnics in England and Wales. In addition to discussing underlying principles of student representation, the article gives data for polytechnic university senates. (Author/PG)

Provides information and observations on student governance in Chinese higher education, obtained through an interview with the Deputy General of the All-China Students' Federation, a federal body of student unions at universities, colleges, and secondary schools throughout China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. (Author/NB)

Defends student councils as effective vehicles for teaching democratic literacy. Presents guidelines for effective council activities as well as suggestions for integrating a student council into an already crowded school program. (NH)

This study reports on Project Student Democracy, a program at the Malmo School of Education in Sweden. The study aims to a) study characteristic patterns of interaction, attitudes, and opinions related to existing forms of student participation at various levels of education in Sweden; b) study relations between both attitudes and opinions, and…

In this paper, the author highlights the Berlin Student Parliament and assesses educational innovations of the postwar era. The Berlin Student Parliament is but one example of the postwar pedagogical and curricular initiatives that sought to prepare West German pupils for their responsibilities in the new democracy. The organization believe that…

This summary deals with the major results elicited from six reports concerning two research projects entitled "Non-Subject-Specific Goals for University Education" and "Student Democracy--Co-Planning at Different Educational Levels." The reports include the following: (a) "Debate Analyses as Goal-Seeking Instruments,"…