Often there are references to the alleged apathy of young people regarding civic and political participation (Fahmy, 2006; Menezes, 2007; Putnam, 2000; Theiss-Morse & Hibbing, 2005, Verba , Schlozman & Brady, 2002), and the consequences of this apathy and lack of trust in politicians and democracy raise questions about the sustainability of democratic societies. For some authors (Flanagan & Sherrod, 1998, Verba et al., 2002) participation is the engine of democracy, is the key to the success for any democratic society. They defend that democracy truly happens when citizens participate effectively in the governance process and, at the same time, express their interests or needs. However, in Europe and beyond, both young people and adults show signs of dissatisfaction with conventional forms of participation, while, at the same time, more fluid and self-expressive forms of participation seem to emerge (Ferreira, Azevedo & Menezes, in press).

Educational responses to this “democratic crisis” have included the emergence of citizenship education as a central goal of education; educational reforms, since the mid-1990s and all across Europe, have done a considerable investment in creating cross-curricular strategies, new subjects, non-disciplinary spaces, … to promote knowledge, dispositions and competences related to active citizenship (Davies, 1998; Hedke, 2002, 2003).  However, the notion of what a “citizen” should be is highly debatable and diverse (e.g., Benhabib, 1999; Lister, Smith, Middleton & Cox, 2003). Arnot et al. (2000) present us with the concept of "good citizen" from several perspectives, including the critical citizen. And they argue that, although the idea of citizenship is often associated to obeying rules and standards established by society, the citizen is now called to be much more than that: a critical being aware to be part of a building democracy.

During the last years, we have witnessed signs of a revival of youth engagement and participation, also in Europe, even if with less conventional forms. Can we relate this revival with the emphasis on education for citizenship in European curricula? Does existing research on citizenship education and youth civic and political participation recognize the existence of an interface between in- and out-of-school civic and political experiences? 

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