Civic education and social interactions at school as drivers of intended electoral participation: Similarities and differences in four European school systems

Abstract

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. We analyze data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 that consist of representative subsamples for 14-year-old students ( N = 14,567) in Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, and Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia). A structural equation model approach reveals that both political knowledge and trust in political institutions contribute to explaining variation in adolescents’ intended electoral participation. The effect of political knowledge is partly mediated by trust, which in turn is negatively associated with political knowledge in Bulgaria and Croatia and positively in Denmark and Germany (NRW). These results are discussed in the light of country-specific differences in the political context of civic education.

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“…This factor consistently exhibits the most substantial contribution to explaining the variance in students' intentions to partake in elections. These findings are aligned with previous research, which highlighted the significant influence of engaging in civic activities at school on expected electoral participation, a phenomenon reaffirmed by our results (Deimel et al 2022; Keating and Janmaat 2016; Reichert and Print 2018). Considering the above-mentioned results, it is possible that the differences in intended electoral participation between both student groups are not solely due to the language of instruction but rather because of the lack of civic activities in school programs primarily taught in Russian.…”

“…Moreover, 41% of students reported engaging in decisions about school governance and 42% reported running for positions within student government (Schulz, Ainley, et al 2018). Involvement in these particular activities has proven to be influential in fostering essential skills and attitudes that facilitate future electoral participation (Deimel et al 2022). Longitudinal studies have shown that school-based political activities have a lasting positive impact on young people's civic engagement, both during their time in school and well into adulthood (Keating and Janmaat 2016).…”

Social origin and political participation: does education compensate for or reinforce family advantages and disadvantages?

“…Recent empirical results are in line with this expectation (Gidengil et al 2016;Lindgren and Oskarsson 2022;Oskarsson et al 2022). In Germany, family background is a significant predictor of political participation (Kiess 2021), and of the political knowledge and intended electoral participation of young adults (Deimel et al 2022). Because this is not the main question in our study, we do not formulate an explicit hypothesis relating to this, but we will show in the results section that higher parental SES is also associated with higher political participation of the children in our study.…”

“…Civic education begins in grades 7-8 in all tracks (Torney-Purta et al 1999), but students in higher educational tracks have more hours of civic education, and topics are more advanced compared to lower tracks (Bacia and Abs 2017;Savage et al 2021). Moreover, teachers are less likely to have proper qualifications in lower tracks (Manzel et al 2017;Deimel et al 2022). It has been shown that differences in the curriculum of civic education between tracks can explain part of the inequality in civic outcomes (Kavadias et al 2020).…”

Education Divide: Civic Learning and Intended Political Participation among Youth in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

“…Moreover, 41% of students reported engaging in decisions about school governance and 42% reported running for positions within student government (Schulz, Ainley, et al 2018). Involvement in these particular activities has proven to be influential in fostering essential skills and attitudes that facilitate future electoral participation (Deimel et al 2022). Longitudinal studies have shown that school-based political activities have a lasting positive impact on young people's civic engagement, both during their time in school and well into adulthood (Keating and Janmaat 2016).…”