The paper starts by exploring the way in which a number of European countries espouse, through their education policies, a belief and desire for democracy in the context of citizenship education in their school systems. It points out that the rhetoric is not always matched by reality. It then seeks to define the concept of “democratic citizenship” proposing that this is a utopian state – aspirational yet unachievable in its purest form. However, it is argued that it is important to aim for this and outlines the reasons why. Leadership is explained as central to any such changes for more democratic schools and in turn society with a healthier realisation of the notion of citizenship. Most of the paper is concerned with defining leadership for democratic citizenship and presenting a framework for such leadership. Integrity is seen as the backbone for this with four inter-related elements – values, knowledge, skills and competencies. This framework is based on adult learning and leadership theory and has been used and tested in a variety of international environments in Europe, Asia and Africa.