The role of 14-year-olds’ civic knowledge, learning and socialization in school for their external efficacy: an international comparison

Democracies require political support of critical citizens who, on the one hand, fundamentally support democratic values and, on the other, critically monitor the political system’s performance and the responsiveness of its authorities. Conceptual civic knowledge enables citizens to reflect on, evaluate and address performance, need for reform or undesirable developments. Young people can be critical citizens and grant political support or withdraw it.

Using data from ICCS, Till Schröter and Katrin Hahn-Laudenberg find that the relationship between civic knowledge and external efficacy varies systematically between countries with more and less corruption. The school influences external efficacy, beyond it being a place for knowledge transfer: In addition to a cognitive path that emphasizes an open discussion climate and civic knowledge, we theorize an affective path that focuses on social interactions at school and a participation-evaluative path that includes students’ participation in civic activities at school and their perception.

The results show that more civic knowledge leads to a more critical external efficacy, especially in countries with higher levels of corruption. Positive interactions at school and positive perceptions of students’ participation lead to more positive external efficacy in all countries but hardly reduce the critical effect emanating from civic knowledge.