Democratic values and citizen action: a view from US ninth graders

As part of the IEA study of civic education, US ninth graders were assessed for their civic knowledge, concepts, attitudes, and experiences. The study yielded information about the development of democratic attitudes and dispositions toward social action. US ninth graders rated free expression and free elections as most important for democracy. They were less sure about the importance of peaceful protests. US ninth graders were above the international average in their support of rights for both women and immigrants. However, not all groups of students were willing to extend rights to “the other.” Additionally, students were most likely to have experienced social actions to help the community; far fewer were likely to engage in more politically oriented actions. Socio-economic variables and race/ethnicity were related to civic knowledge.