ABSTRACT
The violation of human rights and democracy principles were followed by successive revolutions and loss of control over territories in Ukraine. Neither of the revolutions was successful in achieving deep democratic systemic changes which would induce sustainable development for the country. Citizenship education is considered a powerful tool for changing the understanding of social and political processes among young people by forming their citizenship values, attitudes and citizenship behavior. In order to identify young people’s perceptions of the status of democracy and citizenship activity, a survey was conducted in the middle of 2019 with 405 students in Kryvyi Rih. Participants were both full-time students and extramural students. Analysis revealed that for some students, there were perceptions concerning the decline of the status of democracy along with a readiness to protest. For others, there was a perception that there was a decline in the status of democracy but linked to higher loyalty to the state, respect for civic virtues and focus on personal development. Relationship between democracy perception and citizenship activity according to age and gender revealed by the empirical study should be taken into consideration by teachers and policy maker in citizenship education curricula improvement.
