Introduction

Abstract

This statement by the 44^th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, sums up a common democratic idea: democracy creates a freely accessible public space in which different interests compete for agreement to their political ideas, visions, and suggestions. Apparent in Obama’s statement is the dependency of democratic systems on the active involvement and engagement of citizens. Democracy is generally believed to allow any society to live together peacefully and prosper economically and culturally, with citizenship education conveying the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities which the respective society deems most important for its citizens.