Građansko obrazovanje u demokratiji
Civic Education In A Democracy: A Policy In The Public Interest

Summary/Abstract: Things as different as public parks and a national defence system are often claimed to be in the public interest. What is it for a policy to be in the public interest? Can experts determine such policies? Is the provision of a civic education in the public interest? This presentation argues that it is.But what form should that civic education take? To help determine such an education it is useful to think about what is involved in being a democratic citizen. Knowledge of the political system and of the values – for instance, justice, freedom and the rule of law – underpinning it are involved. Other kinds of knowledge too are needed; potential examples are countless – knowledge of economics, financial systems, statistics, science and more. The citizen also requires a range of political skills to participate in the political system, from simple things like voting procedures to knowing how to make one’s voice heard in the political arena. But, most important, the citizen needs a range of specifically democratic dispositions. These include a sense of fairness, tolerance, hope, confidence, trust, honesty, decency and, perhaps on occasion, courage. But what are dispositions and how can they be fostered? The presentation argues that public educational institutions have a crucial role to play and from the earliest years.But can there be a onesizefitsall civic education? Democracy, after all can take different forms, maximal and minimal: citizens may, legitimately perhaps, be more or less active. Democracies also have very different histories and have to grapple with very different problems. Can anything useful be said then in general about civic education? I will argue that it can.

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