The effects of civic education on political knowledge. A two year panel survey among Belgian adolescents |
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| Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Marc?HoogheEmail author Ruth?Dassonneville |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Political Science, University of Leuven, Park Street 45, 3000 Leuven, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | Traditionally political knowledge was regarded as an important potential outcome for civic education efforts. Most of the
currently available research, however, tends to focus on non-cognitive goals, despite the fact that studies repeatedly have
shown that political knowledge is an important resource for enlightened and engaged citizenship. In this article, we investigate
whether civic education efforts at school contribute to political knowledge levels. The analysis is based on the Belgian Political
Panel Survey, a 2 year panel study among 2,988 Belgian late adolescents. The analysis shows that experiences with group projects
at school contribute significantly to political knowledge levels 2 years later on. Furthermore, we can observe an interaction
effect as those who are already most knowledgeable about politics, gain most from these group projects. Classes about politics,
on the other hand, did not have an effect on knowledge levels. In the discussion, it is argued that civic education can have
strong cognitive effects, but that these effects are not always related to classical civic education efforts and we discussion
the policy implication for civic education. |
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