Civics and Citizenship Education

The degree to which people are both capable and willing to be good citizens depends on the quality of the education they have received in civics and citizenship. The distinction between the two is important: In the context of education, civics refers to knowledge of the workings of the institutions of government. By contrast, citizenship refers to an understanding of the values underlying society. In many countries, inadequacies in the education system means that levels of knowledge of civics and citizenship are very low. This chapter discusses the principles that should underlie an effective system of civics and citizenship education, starting with the most fundamental principle which, consistent with the practice of reason, is that it should be founded on a secular ethic. A prime example of this is the Enseignement Moral et Civique (EMC—Moral and Civic Education) curriculum in France, which is based on the concept of laïcité, or secularism, and which is accompanied by a mandatory course in philosophy. An effective civics education programme should also extend throughout a student’s school career, with complexity graded according to the stage a student has reached. The chapter ends by addressing the question of how effective civics knowledge is in giving people greater understanding of how government works, and of increasing their willingness to contemplate reform where needed. In doing so it analyses the results of a survey of voters conducted in Australia in 2025 which tested respondents’ levels of civics knowledge and also presented them with a number of reform proposals, first without background information and again after providing information explaining the constitutional effect of the reforms. The results indicated that respondents demonstrated an increased willingness to support reform once furnished with accurate information about their effect, demonstrating the positive effect that civics education can have.