General description on research questions and objectives

In theNetherlands, citizenship education has become compulsory in 2006 (MOCW 2005). Yet, only few schools have framed their citizenship curriculum in the context of the protection and development of the democratic character of the Dutch society (Onderwijsraad 2012; Veugelers 2007). This raises several questions: Which type of democratic citizenship development is currently fostered in formal education? And which types of democratic citizenship development does one need to foster in order to vitalize democratic communities on a local, national and European level?

In this paper, I explain how an empirical study into the democratic engagement of Dutch adolescents has led to the distinction of three types of democratic engagement: a passive, thin and thick type of democratic engagement. I explain what this study and related studies indicate about the types of democratic engagement that Dutch schools currently cultivate, and I theorize about the types of democratic engagement that schools need to cultivate in order support the vitality of democratic communities. Main questions addressed in this paper are:

• Which type of democratic engagement did the adolescents develop?
• What are the strength and limitations of each type in relation to the vitality of democratic communities?
• Which types of democratic engagement do democratic institutions need to cultivate in order to vitalize democratic communities on a local, national and European level?
• And what role can formal education play in this respect?

Objective of this paper is to contribute to knowledge and to scholarly debate about the types of democratic citizenship development that European governments do, and can, foster.

Theoretical framework

This study builds on research in critical pedagogy, curriculum theory and educational philosophy. Democratic engagement, in this context, has been defined as the sum of one’s democratic commitment and the extent to which one actually ‘does democracy’ (Carr 2011). Thick concepts of democracy, in general, envision democracy as a political system and a way of life (Dewey 1916). In order to build the theoretical framework for the empirical study, I examined distinctions between thin and thick democracy as identified by four scholars who have contributed to scholarly debate on democratic citizenship education in theUS(Carr 2010; Parker 2003; Thayer-Bacon 2008, Westheimer 2004). Building on their distinctions, a framework was developed that distinguishes between three aspects of thick democracy: as a political system that is always under construction, as a culture that aims for respect and social justice, and as an ethos that implies examining and co-constructing hegemonies in a ‘multipolar society’ (Mouffe 2005).

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