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Justifying Citizen Political Participation in Norwegian Political Education
(New York: Berghahn, 2014-06-02) Børhaug, Kjetil
Political education is on the agenda in European countries, because adolescent political participation has been in decline. A pressing issue therefore concerns the way in which political education offers meaningful reasons for individual political participation. Since textbooks play a key role in defining school subjects, critical textbook analysis may help us to understand how political education impinges upon participation. To what extent do textbooks explicitly present justifications for political participation? What kinds of justifications are offered? This article analyzes Norwegian social studies textbooks, and concludes that justifications of political participation for young citizens are prominent. The main justifications include the individual pursuit of preferences, individual duty in a “contract” with the state, and identities. However, these justifications are also questionable, for they are generally either individualistic or avoid real political movements.