Democratic citizenship competence

Four dimensions of democratic citizenship education

Relevant frameworks of democratic citizenship education generally see democratic citizenship competence through four dimensions.

The first is ‘knowledge of citizenship and government in democracy’. This includes understanding the substance of democracy, recognising ongoing tensions in civil society and government, knowledge of the institutions of democratic government and their functions, understanding the practices of democratic citizenship, the context of democracy, and the history of democracy.

The second is the ‘cognitive skills of citizenship in a democracy’. This is about recognising, describing, analysing, and explaining the phenomena of political and civic life. It includes having the ability to evaluate, take and defend positions on public issues, make decisions on public issues, and think critically and constructively about political and civic life.

‘Participatory citizenship skills in a democracy’ form the third dimension. This is the interaction between citizens to promote common interests, follow public events, discuss public policy issues, and influence policy implementation and decision-making.

The fourth is the ‘promotion of the general welfare and the public good’. This is about responsible participation and support for the maintenance of democratic principles and practices.

Competences for a democratic culture

The Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (2018) is one of the most relevant models that points the competences that individuals need to function as democratically and interculturally competent citizens. These are therefore the competences that educators need to target in order to empower learners to act as competent and effective democratic citizens. These competences are divided into values, attitudes, skills, and knowledge and critical understanding.

Values

Values are the general beliefs that individuals hold about the desirable goals that should be striven for in life, they can include:

• Valuing human dignity and human rights.
• Valuing cultural diversity.
• Valuing democracy, justice, fairness, equality and the rule of law.

Attitudes

These are the overall mental orientation which an individual adopts towards someone or something and include:

• Openness to cultural otherness and to other beliefs, world views and practices.
• Respect.
• Civic-mindedness.
• Responsibility.
• Self-efficacy.
• Tolerance of ambiguity.

Skills

This is having the capacity for carrying out complex, well-organised patterns of either thinking or behaviour in an adaptive manner in order to achieve a particular end or goal. Such skills include:

• Autonomous learning skills.
• Analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Skills of listening and observing.
• Empathy.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Linguistic, communicative and plurilingual skills.
• Cooperation skills.
• Conflict-resolution skills.

Knowledge and critical understanding

Knowledge is the body of information that is possessed by a person and understanding is the comprehension and appreciation of meanings involved, these include:

• Knowledge and critical understanding of the self.
• Knowledge and critical understanding of language and communication.
• Knowledge and critical understanding of the world: politics, law, human rights, culture, different cultures, religions, history, media, economies, environment, sustainability, etc.

An individual is considered competent when they can adequately and effectively cope with the demands, challenges and opportunities that democratic and intercultural situations bring by mobilising and applying some or all of these competences.

The achievement of the level of democratic competency required for a functioning democracy does not rest on the individuals alone, but primarily on the social structure and the institutions supporting their efforts.