ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the state of youth political socialization in Croatian rural schools by looking at rural youth sociopolitical attitudes and the willingness of young people to engaged in school politics. The evidence from the International Civics and Citizenship Education Survey (2016) shows that rural students are slightly more likely to hold conservative social views and adhere to traditional values. However, youth religiosity is associated with a greater likelihood of engagement in school politics, and exposure to civic education is associated with a greater tolerance for diversity. The finding that civic education is positively associated with acceptance of ethnically diverse groups warrants some hopeful possibility. This should act as a motivation for educators and policy-makers to support civics and citizenship education as an independent subject within the curriculum, and especially in the context of a post-conflict society.
