Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Using an original 2012 survey of eleventh grade students in metropolitan Cape Town, South Africa – the first generation to complete their education in post-apartheid schools – we explore why students in this new democracy are less supportive of democratic governance than older generations. South Africa’s students are the product of a reformed school curriculum largely which emphasizes the importance of the methods by which schools and teachers train students in democracy more than what they actually teach. Our study, however, shows that the most important cause for students’ low levels of support for democracy is the failure of schools to impart basic facts about South African politics and an appreciation of the role of active, critical, and peaceful participation by citizens. We argue schools can best help to build a democratic culture if they concentrate not on revamping teaching methods and styles, but on teaching students basic factual content about politics, democracy, and citizenship.