ABSTRACT
Participation as an element of active citizenship in democracies has developed into a prominent project of international and national educational policy. Institutionalised approaches for compulsory schools are called to provide participation competencies to all young citizens. National and international policymakers subscribe to the philosophy of participation as a core component of active citizenship and as an essential element of the democratic order (cf. e.g. Council of Europe 2010b; OJ 2007, 2010). The activities for participatory citizenship education (PCE) in schools as displayed by the European Union, the Council of Europe and many national education agencies can be viewed as attempts to put participation into practice (Bîrzea et al. 2005; Gollob, Krapf and Weidinger 2010a, 2010b). The protagonists of education for participation paint a promising picture of coherent beliefs, policies and practices: As democracy needs active citizens, research-based policies ensure that schools teach democratic participation effectively to all students who, as citizens, make use of the participatory competencies acquired, are active in society, community and polity, thus, as a by-product, contributing to the sustainability of democracy (Council of Europe 2002; Schulz et al. 2010a, 2010b). Simultaneously, scientific monitoring and feedback guarantee the best implementation of educational programmes and their continuous improvement.
