"No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time" - this is a quote by the former British prime minister Winston Churchill. It highlights an important reality: There is no such thing as a perfect democracy, yet despite all the criticism leveled at it, democracy remains the most successful system for achieving peaceful solutions to conflicts. Indeed, right across the globe in differing regions and in different systems people rely on it.

Democracy lives off the work of its citizens. And knowledge forms a precondition to commitment. Only those with a basic understanding of how the system works, and knowledge of the mechanisms and institutions that make up a democratic state can put a lot of time and energy into it. Imparting this information is regarded as being one of the most important tasks of political education, whose aim is the maturation of the responsible citizen.

These make up just a few of the questions that we will be addressing during this Main Subject Group of Democracy. This subject is divided into five basic courses featuring plenty of materials, texts and illustrations as well as special sections on issues such as elections, opposition, parliament, classical authors of political philosophy and much more besides. The aim of this is to sketch out a picture of democracy that ultimately makes clear that democracy is not something that is achieved once and for all, but is a state of being that requires permanent work.

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Subjects:  Human Rights  I  Democracy  I  Parties  I  Examples  I  Europe  I  Globalisation  I  United Nations  I  Sustainability

Methods:    Teaching Politics    II    Peace Education    II    Methods