In the field of political culture, studying the ideal democratic citizen is a constant matter. This essay examines and describes if and how the norms and values for the ideal democratic citizen in Sweden have changed between 1950 and 2000. Through time, Swedish civic education has advocated for an active and participating citizen. At the same time, studies show that democratic norms and values among Swedish citizens from these generations differ. Younger generations tend to have changed attitudes towards democracy and are being less actively involved in the social and political life of their communities. Something that in the long run, might be threatening the sustainability of Swedish democracy. By analysing content in textbooks from Swedish senior high school and educational associations from 1950 and 2000, norms and values for the ideal democratic citizen have similarities as well as differences. Using the theoretical framework of social capital, the content from 1950 describes the ideal democratic Swedish citizen as an engaged and active person who contribute to society by engaging in networks and organizations. According to the theory, the 1950-citizen would be a person with potential for social capital. Furthermore, the textbooks from and educational associations are the ones that, despite year of production, are consistent in their promotion of the democratic citizen being someone with social capital. However, the textbook used in Swedish senior high school in 2012 focuses less on how the ideal democratic citizen should be and more on political competence and resources in terms of knowledge and skills.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-465615 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Grzechnik Mörk, Emma |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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