"In addition to the political dimensions already mentioned, political science also offers another concept for understanding politics, which has proven itself very useful for political education purposes. This concept describes politics as a "fundamentally endless chain in which attempts are made to resolve present and future problems in society" (Peter Massing/Werner Skuhr). This understanding of politics is based on the policy-cycle model, which forms the centerpiece of policy (...). Policy research analyses and describes politics as a process in which problems are digested and dealt with and has managed to divide this process into the following phases (policy cycle), each of which is defined by a central category:

1st phase: The public become aware of an issue as a problem. Thus, because of demands being made by certain civic and political groups, a latent problem in society is transformed into a political problem, which in turn provokes politics into action.

2nd phase: This political problem leads to disagreement and argument between different political and civic groups.

3rd phase: The problem is transformed into a political and administrative decision whereby no decision can also be regarded as a decision.

4th phase: This decision is eventually given firm structure by subordinate political and administrative players, by civic groups and organizations and by individuals.

5th phase: The decision, the implementation of the decision and the result and effects of the decision are then evaluated, resulting, finally, in reactions of either a positive or negative nature.

6th phase: These reactions, in turn, are also implemented politically leading to a continuation, alteration or conclusion of the problem (...).

To understand democratic politics in a modern pluralistic society, understanding the following notion of politics is fundamental: that the nature of the democratic process demands that positions and decisions are in constant need of correction and revision and that new solutions must be continually sought. If society is unsuccessful in teaching young people to understand the principles and reasons for this process, they will begin to think that the repeated and basically endless attempts to reach half solutions in a chain of conflict-ridden solutions that are controlled by the legislative, executive and judiciary, that are in constant danger of failure and which are in constant need of revision are unattractive compared to the simple models promised by the political left and right wings.

The choice of this approach can also counter the purely terminology-based understanding of politics that young people often have. They have a tendency to transfer an understanding of technical planning to politics:: Just like the architect is considered a failure, whose building begins to show cracks shortly after its completion, so, too, the politician whose political solution for society is soon in need of revision. In contrast to this, the challenge for political education is to show that the draft solutions and the political decisions on which they are based already carry the seed of revision and correction in them, to explain why this has to be like it is and to demonstrate that freedom would be under constant threat without this self-restraint, on which democratic politics is based."

[Politikdidaktik kurzgefasst. Planungsfragen für den Politikunterricht, published by Federal Centre for Political Education, series vol. 326, Bonn 1994; p. 21-24]

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