Concepts Of Democratic Citizenship

This book examines the issues of theorizing citizenship education research in non-Western societies that have embarked on democratic development after the fall of authoritarianism and colonialism. Despite a proliferation of studies on citizenship and citizenship education in non-Western contexts, there has been limited theorization of this research and little discussion of the applicability to such contexts of Western theoretical frameworks. This volume addresses these issues through empirical case studies of citizenship conceptions, practices, and education in South and West Africa, Latin America, Central Europe, and the Middle East. The contributors to the volume call into question the uncritical application of Western theoretical frameworks to non-Western societies and advocate for the development and wider application of new paradigms rooted in local processes and indigenous knowledge to better understand and theorize citizenship and citizenship education in such societies. This volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and practitioners working in the field of comparative and international citizenship education. It was originally published as a special issue of Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education.

No political concept is more used, and misused, than that of democracy. Nearly every regime today claims to be democratic, but not all 'democracies' allow free politics, and free politics existed long before democratic franchises. This book is a short account of the history of the doctrine and practice of democracy, from ancient Greece and Rome through the American, French, and Russian revolutions, and of the usages and practices associated with it in the modern world. It argues that democracy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for good government, and that ideas of the rule of law, and of human rights, should in some situations limit democratic claims. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Six academics present papers on the conditions and prerequisites for a shared European democratic culture. It looks at such topics as nationalism and democratic citizenship, the importance of the coexistence of different cultural identities, rights and responsibilities and the decision-making procedures of European institutions.

This important volume provides a comprehensive study of the concept of democratic citizenship (including its conditions and pre-requisites), which has an established place in higher education courses in politics, social policy, sociology and social philosophy. The contributing political philosophers and educational theorists collectively provide a critical commentary on the assumptions, principles and presuppositions associated with the idea of education for active democratic citizenship. This book presents an invaluable combination of original essays from established authors and previously published seminal articles specially revised for the volume.

Is ′citizenship′ still a useful concept? Can citizens - and democracy - exist independently of the state? This text provides an accessible guide to the theories and debates that surround the key political concepts of state, citizenship, and democracy today. John Hoffman reviews the modern development of these concepts from the classic texts of Marx and Weber to the post-war critiques of the feminist, multicultural and critical theorists and considers the on-going barriers to a full realisation of a democratic citizenship. By carefully considering what the state is and what it does, Hoffman shows that it is possible to respond to these critiques and challenges and ′reclaim′ citizenship and democracy as inclusive and emancipatory, rather than divisive and controlling. In advancing this alternative view of a ′stateless′ citizenship, Hoffman opens up new possibilities for conceiving power and society in contemporary politics today. It will be essential reading for all students of politics and sociology for whom the questions of state, nationality, power and identity remain of central importance.

This book eloquently argues that the citizenship mission of schools ought to teach students what is possible rather than simply objectifying them as human capital being prepared for the inevitable impact of the policies determined by others.

The objective of this manual is to support teachers and practitioners in Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE). It addresses key questions about EDC and HRE, including competences for democratic citizenship, the objectives and basic principles of EDC/HRE, and a whole school approach to education for democracy and human rights. The manual consists of three parts. Part I outlines the basic principles of EDC/HRE as far as they are helpful and meaningful for the practitioner. Part II gives guidelines and tools to design, support and assess the students' processes of constructivist and interactive learning. Part III provides toolboxes for teachers and students in EDC/HRE. The other volumes in this series offer concrete teaching models and materials in EDC/HRE for pupils from elementary to upper secondary level.

In recent years a number of political and educational leaders and groups have urged the nation's public schools to place a greater emphasis on teaching civic values and on educating students to become citizens. This book puts forth the civic values and ideas that schools should be teaching. The volume is not a handbook or curriculum guide, but is designed to broaden the perspective of curriculum specialists, textbook authors, teachers, and educational policymakers. In the first three chapters of this four-chapter book, the study of and learning about history, the study and learning about constitutional principles, and the study and learning about conceptions of citizenship are examined. The final chapter offers a set of 12 ideas and civic values that should suffuse teaching and learning in the schools. These 12 values are justice, equality, authority, participation, truth, patriotism, freedom, diversity, privacy, due process, property, and human rights. (DB)