From Civic Learning to Democratic Competence: Understanding the Democracy–Education Nexus

This paper offers a conceptual analysis of the evolving relationship between education and democracy, tracing how the field has expanded beyond traditional civic education toward broader understandings of democratic competence. It examines the conceptual network formed by Education for Democracy and related approaches, considering how major educational policy frameworks and shifting societal conditions, such as polarisation, digitalisation and democratic fragility, shape current debates. The paper then outlines key historical and theoretical developments in democratic education, showing how changing notions of democracy, citizenship and participation, including the emergence of global and digital citizenship and the move toward competence-based education, have reconfigured expectations for what and how learners should understand, experience and enact in democratic contexts. These developments make visible some ongoing tensions concerning the purposes and processes of learning for democracy and the need for more transformative approaches. Building on insights from the learning sciences and social and political theory, the paper conceptualises democratic competence as a developmental and situated process grounded in cognitive, emotional, social, ethical and reflective forms of meaning-making. This perspective underscores that while building on basic political and civic knowledge, democratic learning involves qualitative transformation, particularly in contexts characterised by diversity, uncertainty and disagreement. This is also related to interactive pedagogies and practice-related experiences. The paper further considers how democratic competence can be supported pedagogically and structurally, examining approaches that integrate deliberative, dialogical and collaborative practices with broader democratic learning ecologies across schools, communities and digital environments. It ultimately offers a refined conceptual foundation for interpreting the democracy–education nexus and for understanding the conditions under which democratic learning can take shape.