Through civic education and social interactions at school, students are able to develop more or less political knowledge and trust in political institutions. Both precede intended electoral participation. However, it is disputed whether the relationship between political knowledge, trust, and intended participation is consistent across countries.…

Studies on youth participation tend to characterize youth as either active and trustful or as passive and alienated. This cross-national and longitudinal study examines patterns of citizenship orientations characterized by both manifest and latent involvement differentiated by one's position toward institutional politics (trustful or distrustful)…

Political education in school is aimed at preparing adolescents for their role as citizens, which comprises political participation as well as political knowledge. While it is generally agreed that basic knowledge about politics is a prerequisite to participation, the specific link between knowledge and participation is left unclear in normative…

Vocational education and training (VET) is a common form of upper secondary school tracking in countries around the world. There are ongoing debates regarding the effects of this differentiation on academic and labor market outcomes; however, evidence on civic outcomes is lacking. Using a unique cohort study in Germany (N = 2461) and a doubly…

As schools are increasingly expected to develop their students' political and social engagement in order to promote good citizenship, they are struggling to define what good citizenship is. In this article, we put forward a way of formulating perspectives on citizenship that specifies the normative aspects of good citizenship in a systematic…

This article introduces the topic of the special issue, 'Public education at the crossroads', by pointing to some of the debates and controversies surrounding the topic of public education and by framing the theme, while explaining the context and some components of the educational systems of the countries under examination -- namely the USA and…

In light of a global higher education expansion, the paper analyses the historic-structural conditions of this development for the German state(s) after World War II. Building on Talcott Parsons citizenship patterns, the analysis centres on two core institutions of the German higher education system: the state-organized system of entitlement…

Across democracies, education predicts electoral participation and political interest. Here, German students on the pre-vocational and pre-academic educational tracks are compared to show how these differences emerge, and thus indicate how they can be addressed. In a Preliminary Study, a large dataset (3747 participants) revealed that there is a…

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to describe the state of current citizenship education in Germany with the focus on education in schools. The term 'education' in this paper refers to the concept of Bildung. It not only describes how to teach, but also the ability of self-determination of the individual. Methodology: The main focus of this…

This article combines the perspective of transnational transfer with contributions from social theory and historical sociology -- specifically the Luhmannian concept of social 'inclusion'. In doing so, this article reconstructs a historical case regarding the conflicting implementation of universal conscription and compulsory schooling in Chile in…

Both direct and indirect influences have been assumed to impact the transmission of political orientations within families. A lower socioeconomic status is related to lower intended political participation of adolescents. Within this context, schools play a crucial role in political socialisation, as citizenship education is assumed to either…

Politics is inseparable from conflict. But we often have the idea that the political process has to simply "solve" conflicts and in so doing make the conflict disappear. And because the politicians are not able to do this and instead simply continue arguing, we get the impression that we have incompetent politicians, whom we cannot…

More and more programs of citizenship education in Germany (and other countries) tend to advance democratic citizenship through social learning in communities. A strong emphasis is put on social engagement to get young people involved in politics as well as to teach them participation. A qualitative analysis of selected German social learning…

Purpose: The article shows the use of specific educational media in social studies in vocational schools to foster a differentiated historical and political literacy. Design/methodology/approach: Accordingly, the article examines a sequence of lessons taught by the author in a vocational classroom, fostering reflexive historical-political…

Purpose: The aim of the research is to determine to what extent one can talk about "cosmopolitan citizenship" not only programmatically, but also as an already functioning entity. And what role can and should civic education play in the development of such a citizenship? Methods: A working definition of citizenship at the national,…