There are more than 100 democracies in the world today. All but three of them--Great Britain, Israel, and New Zealand --have written constitutions. This digest examines the importance of constitutions and constitutionalism and the teaching of these concepts through the use of comparisons. The primary objectives of civic education for democratic…

Civic writing is an intellectual skill that is needed for effective and responsible participation in civil society and government. This Digest examines the concept of civic writing, identifies its purposes in democratic citizenship, and discusses how to teach it. Civic writing includes formal legal writing (speeches, petitions, resolutions),…

This digest argues that free, public libraries foster and fortify democracy and democratic citizenship. Because libraries offer services and materials representing many points of view, they allow citizens to fulfill their civic and personal responsibilities and to exercise their liberties. Particularly for former communist countries, libraries can…

The growing population of "English-as-second language" (ESL) students in the United States need to learn how to cope with the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the U.S. Because of this, civic education should pervade the curriculum for ESL students. This ERIC digest treats five facets of civic education for ESL students: (1)…

The recent trends in economic education reflect the perennial issues regarding economics education. Trends identified include: (1) economics and citizenship education; (2) economic education in Russia and Eastern Europe; (3) the global economy; (4) content standards; and (5) use of computer technology in economic education. The Digest concludes…

The fall of communism in eastern and central Europe inspired the call for curriculum development in citizenship education throughout the growing democratic world. Many programs between U.S. institutions and newly developing democracies continue to produce curricula for democratic citizenship suited to local needs. This digest discusses: (1)…

What do ninth grade students in the United States know about democracy and democratic principles? What attitudes do they have toward civic issues? What experiences have they had in democratic participation and how engaged do they expect to be in the political arena as adults? How do youth in the United States compare with their peers in other…

Many cooperative civic education projects among U.S. and Central/Eastern European educators have emerged since the end of Communist Party Rule in the former Czechoslovakia. This digest describes a collaborative curriculum development project, Civic Education for the Czech Republic (CECR). The objective of CECR is to revise the existing social…

What do 14-year-old students know about democratic institutions and processes? What skills do they possess to understand and interpret political communication? Do they hold concepts of citizenship and democracy similar to those held by adults in their societies? What role do schools and other civic organizations play in the civic development of…

Since the 1920s, the focus of adult education has shifted from social change to professionalization to an emphasis on literacy and lifelong learning in a changing workplace. The adult education literature reflects ongoing debate over whether adult education should focus primarily on individuals or society and whether it should serve as a means of…

This ERIC digest discusses the Education for Democratic Citizenship in Poland (EDCP) project, a cooperative effort of the Polish Ministry of National Education, the Mershon Center at The Ohio State University, and the Bureau for Civic Education in Local Control Schools at Warsaw, Poland. The digest discusses the background of the project, the…

Many totalitarian communist states throughout the world have broken up during the 1990's, and citizens in those countries, from Central and South American to Central and Eastern Europe, are working to build constitutional democracies out of the rubble. Part of creating these new governments is devising new school curricula to include civic…

Is it possible to develop an international consensus on the meaning of democracy and education for democratic citizenship? A cooperative project administered by the Center for Civic Education (CCE) in Calabasas, California is attempting to answer this question. Since 1996, the CCE has been developing "An International Framework for Education…

This ERIC Digest reports on the origins, purposes, and methods of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study. In 1993, the General Assembly of the IEA decided to carry out a two phase study of civic education. The goal of the two phase study was to identify and examine in a comparative…

The current trend toward collaboration is having an impact on the fields of adult basic education and adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and literacy education. This digest looks at collaboration for adult ESL programs and for family bilingual and ESL literacy programs. It discusses the distinctions among cooperation, coordination, and…