civic education attendance as a factor of youth political knowledge, pro-democratic beliefs and political activism

The paper explores the relative importance of civic education courses as the factor of some pro-democratic orientations. The significance of civic education (non) attendance as a predictor of political knowledge, political efficacy, political tolerance, political activism and support for democratic political system is analyzed. The survey was conducted in 25 secondary schools from the territory of the city of Belgrade on the sample of 788 final year students. The results indicate that civic education (non) attendance is the most important predictor of the support for democratic political system, while in all other cases the differences between those who attend it and those who do not are not significant. The concluding section discusses some shortcomings of civic education courses as well as the role of the wider school and social context in the accomplishment of the propagated educational goals.