Civic Education Across Countries: Twenty-Four National Case Studies from the IEA Civic Education Project.
Torney-Purta, J., Schwille, J. & Amadeo, Jo-Ann. (Eds.) (1999)

Amsterdam: The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. (IEA)
ISBN: 90-5166-671-3

What are adolescents expected to know about democratic practices and institutions? How do societies convey a sense of national identity to young people? What are adolescents taught about human difference, diversity, and social cohesion? In short, what are the expectations democratic societies hold for the development of political knowledge, skills, and attitudes among young people?

These questions and others were examined by researchers from 24 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia. The countries range from those with a long tradition of democracy to the newly independent states of central and eastern Europe (so-called transitional democracies). Researchers and national experts analyzed the recent political, economic, and social situations and in some cases dramatic changes in their countries and the impact that these have had on their countries' views of citizenship and democracy. Through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and textbook and policy analyses, the researchers developed a comprehensive understanding of the country context of civic education.

The chapters in this edited volume provide summaries of the national case studies and highlight issues of current importance. An introductory chapter describes the study's theoretical framework and design and outlines themes and patterns found across countries. The introductory chapter also describes how these case studies contributed to the design of the instrument for phase 2 of the study, in which 140,000 students of age 14 were tested during 1999. The book gives educators and policy-makers cross-national information to enhance consideration of the role and status of civic education, especially in light of growing concerns about youth participation in democratic society. (Description from the book cover)

This book was selected by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries as an Outstanding Academic Title for the year 2000 (i.e. one of about 600 books selected from the 6700 titles reviewed and 25,000 volumes received by the journal that year).