Abstract
In the past decade, vibrant electoral activity has been witnessed. Although the results have been unpredictable, the most astonishing and disturbing result is the constant decline in voter turnout. A decrease in voter turnout has been recorded with every election, regardless of the level for which representatives are being chosen, the importance of the arena and the level of contestation. According to the National Electoral Commission of the Republic of Slovenia (2010), turnout levels have reached an all-time low for all types of elections, the lowest of which was 28 percent at the European Parliament elections in 2009. Although second-order political arenas tend to suffer low turnout levels by definition (Norris, 1997), this does not suffice to explain the rapidly decreasing trend and how it does not depend on the type of elections involved. The reasons lie elsewhere and, apart from structural processes of democratic consolidation which denote a major shift from a socialist self-management structure with one-party rule to market capitalism with democratic pluralism, they also include the level of virtuous citizenry in the country. Namely, it is not only electoral turnout levels that are alarming. On the contrary, levels of civic engagement are negligible, voluntarism is weak, and even the self-perception of civil society’s morality is highly distressing (Rakar et al., 2010).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Almond, G. A. and Verba, S. (1989 [1963]) The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Banaji, S. (2008) ‘The trouble with civic: a snapshot of young people’s civic and political engagements in twenty-first-century democracies,’ Journal of Youth Studies, 11(5), 543–60.
Barber, B. R. (1992) An Aristocracy for Everyone (New York: Ballantine).
Birzea, C. (2000) Education for Democratic Citizenship: A Lifelong Learning Perspective (Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Council for Cultural Co-operation).
Bologna declaration (1999) On the European Pace of Higher Education: An Explanation, http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna.pdf.
Condorcet, de M. (1982) Une éducation pour la démocratie (Paris: Éditions Garnier Frères).
Conover, P. J. and Searing, D. D. (2000) ‘A political socialization perspective.’ in L. M. McDonnell, P. M. Timpane and R. Benjamin (eds), Rediscovering the Democratic Purposes of Education, (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas), pp. 91–124.
Crick, B. (1998) Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools: Final Report of the Advisory Group on Citizenship (London: QCA).
Dekker, H. and Meyeberg, R. (1991) Politics and the European Younger Generation: Political Socialization in Eastern, Central and Western Europe (Oldenburg: University of Oldenburg).
Dewey, J. (1916/1964) On Eeducation: Selected Writings (New York: The Modern Library).
Deželan, T. (2008) Veljava sodobnih konceptov državljanstva: doktorska disertacija (Ljubljana: [T. Deželan]).
Deželan, T. (2010) ‘Kakovost aktivnosti za mobilizacijo mladih državljanov na volitvah v Evropski parlament 2009: primer projekta spodbujanja udeležbe srednješolske mladine,’ in A. Krašovec (ed.), Analiza evropskih volitev2009, to be published (Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede).
Deželan, T. and Maksuti, A. (2010) Democratic Citizenship in the Context of Higher Education: Research Report (Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede).
Dreher, E. and Dreher, M. (1999) ‘Konzepte von Krankheit ung Gesungheit in Kindheit, Jugend und Alter,’ in R. Oerter, C. V. Hagen, G. Röper and G. Noam (eds), Klinische Entwicklungspsychologie. Ein Lehrbuch (Weinheim: Beltz). pp. 623–5.
Easton, David ([1965] 1979) A Framework for Political Analysis (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press).
Elster, J. (2003) ‘The market and the forum: three varieties of political theory,’ in D. Matravers and J. Pike (eds), Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology (London: Routledge), pp. 325–41.
Esser, F. and de Vreese, C. (2007) ‘Comparing young voters’ political engagement in the United States and Europe,’ American Behavioural Scientist, 50(9), 1195–213.
Eurydice (2005) Citizenship Education at School in Europe, Slovenian Translation (Ljubljana: Ministrstvo za šolstvo in šport).
Fink-Hafner, D. (1992) Nova družbena gibanja — subjekti politične inovacije (Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede).
Galston, William A. (2001) ‘Political knowledge, political engagement, and civic education,’ Annual Review of Political Science, 4, 217–34.
Gordon, D. (1982) ‘The concept of hidden curriculum,’ Journal of Philosophy of Education, 16(2), 187–97.
Goriup, J. (2010) ‘Some sociological aspects of the role of education in rebuilding Slovene society, family life and living conditions: two decades later,’ International on New Trends in Education and their Implications, 1(4), 1–12.
Greenstein, F. I. (1970) Children and Politics (New Haven: Yale University Press).
Gutmann, A. (1987) Democratic Education (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Hahn, C. L. (1998) Becoming Political: Comparative Perspectives on Citizenship Education (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, Albany).
Haste, H. and Hogan, A. (2006) ‘Beyond conventional civic participation, beyond the moral-political divide: young people and contemporary debates about citizenship,’ Journal of Moral Education, 35(4), 473–93.
Heater, D. (2004) A Brief History of Citizenship (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press).
Hillygus, D. S. (2005) ‘The missing link: exploring the relationship between higher education and political behavior,’ Political Behavior, 27(1), 25–47.
Hopf, Ch. and Hopf, W. (1997) Familie, Personlichkeit, Politik. Eine Einführung in die politische Sozialisation (Weinheim und München: Juventa Verlag).
Hoskins B. L. and Mascherini, M. (2009) ‘Measuring active citizenship through the development of a composite indicator,’ Social Indicators Research, 90(3), 459–88.
Hoskins, B., d’Hombres, B. and Campbell, J. (2008) Does Formal Education Have an Impact on Active Citizenship Behaviour? (European Commission: JRC Scientific and Technical Reports), http://crell.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ActiveCitizenship/impact%20final%20final%20BH%20BD%20JC%20EU%20reportsyslog.pdf.
Ichilov, O. (2003) ‘Education and democratic citizenship in a changing world,’ in D. O. Sears, L. Huddy and R. Jarvis (eds), Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press), pp. 637–69.
Ichilov, O. (1994) ‘Political education,’ in T. Husen and T.N. PostIchthwaite (eds-in-chief), International Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd edition, vol. 8 (New York: Pergamon Press), pp. 4568–71.
Ireland, E., Kerr, D., Lopez, J. and Nelson, J. (2006) Active Citizenship and Young People: Opportunities, Experiences and Challenges in and Beyond School, Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study: Fourth Annual Report, National Foundation for Educational Research, http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR732.pdf.
Jerovšek, J. (1987) ‘Slovenska univerza včeraj, danes, jutri,’ Nova Revija, 6(57), 175–93.
Jovanović, V. (1970) ‘Participation of students in administration of colleges and universities in Yugoslavia,’ The American Journal of Comparative Law, 18(1), 172–6.
Klemenčič, E. (2007) ‘The reform of patriotic and citizenship education in the Slovene school system,’ in L. Neophytou (ed.), Citizenship Multiculturalism Cosmopolitanism: [proceedings from the international conference, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, 3–4 November 2007 (Nicosia, = Leykosía: University of Cyprus), pp. 418–31.
Kump, S. (1994) Akademska kultura (Ljubljana: Znanstveno in publicistično središče).
Kymlicka, W. (1995) Multicultural Citizenship (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
Lesjak, R. (1989) ‘Reformirajmo rektorja, volimo univerzo!’ in I. Bakše (ed.), Kompendij za bivše in bodoče politike ali Popotovanje od Kršega do Portoroža (Ljubljana: RK ZSMS), pp. 91–102.
Lipset, S. M. (1963) Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics (Garden City: Doubleday).
Lopes, J., Benton, T. and Cleaver, E. (2009) ‘Young people’s intended civic and political participation: does education matter?,’ Journal of Youth Studies, 12(1), 1–20.
Mandič, S. (2007) ‘Odhod v prvo samostojno stanovanje: primerjalna analiza med državami EU,’ Družboslovne razprave, 23(54), 7–25.
Mastnak, T. (1994) ‘The Slovene story,’ Praxis International, 13(4), 378–388.
Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MHEST) (2010) Osnutek Nacionalnega programa visokega šolstva 2011–2020, http://www.mvzt.gov.si/file-admin/mvzt.gov.si/pageuploads/pdf/odnosI_z_javnostmi/8.9.10_NPVS.pdf.
Modic, R. (ed.) (1969) Petdeset let slovenske univerze v Ljubljani1919–1969 (Ljubljana: Univerza).
Nadoh Bergoč, J. and Kohont, A. (2007) ‘Na poti v bolonjsko reformo — razmislek o kakovosti in vlogi upravljanja človeških virov v visokem šolstvu,’ Družboslovne razprave, 23(54), 97–118.
National Electoral Commission of the Republic of Slovenia (2010) Results of National, Local, Presidential and European Parliament Elections, http://www.volitve.gov.si.si/.
Niemi, R. and Junn, J. (1998). Civic Education: What Makes Students Learn (New Haven: Yale University Press).
Norris, P. (1997) ‘Nomination: second-order elections revisited,’ European Journal of Political Research, 31(1/2), 109–24.
Patrick, J. J. (2000) ‘Introduction to education for civic engagement in democracy’ in S. Mann and J. J. Patrick (eds), Education for Civic Engagement in Democracy (Bloomington: ERIC), pp. 1–9.
Rakar, T., Deželan, T., Vrbica, S., Kolarič, Z., Črnak-Meglič, A. and Nagode, M. (2010) Civil Society in Slovenia (Ljubljana: to be published).
Rizman, R. (2010, January). Intervju dr. Rudi Rizman: Človeško vse preveč človeško. Ljubljana: Tribuna.
Sardoč, M. (2009) ‘Enakost in različnost v vzgoji in izobraževanju: problem, dileme in izzivi,’ in S. Gaber (ed.), Za manj negotovosti (Ljubljana: Pedagoška fakulteta), pp. 7–19.
Simos (2010) Gradivo za predmet Državljanska in domovinska vzgoja ter etika, http://www.simos.si/egradiva/Etika/index.html (September 1, 2010)
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (2010) Si-Stat podatkovni portal, http://www.stat.si/pxweb/dialog/statfile2.asp (September 1, 2010)
Štrajn, D. (1994) ‘Nove oblike družbenih odnosov in šola,’ Javnost/The Public, 1(1–2), 127–39.
Tomc, G. (1989) Druga Slovenija: zgodovina mladinskih gibanj na Slovenskem v 20. stoletju. (Ljubljana: Univerzitetna konferenca ZSMS, Knjižnica revolucionarne teorije).
Torney, J. V., Oppenheim, A. N. and Farnen, R. F. (1975) Civic Education in Ten Countries (New York: Wiley).
Ule, M (1989) Mladina — za modernizacijo slovenske družbe (Ljubljana: Marksistični center CK ZKS).
University of Ljubljana (2006) Strategija Univerze v Ljubljani 2006–2009, http://www.uni-lj.si/files/ULJ/userfiles/ulj/o_univerzI_v_lj/strategija_ul/5.4%20StrategijaUL2006_2009.pdf.
University of Ljubljana (2009) Podatki o številu zaposlenih na Univerzi v Ljubljani/The Number of Employees at the University of Ljubljana, http://www.uni-lj.si/files/ULJ/userfiles/ulj/o_univerzI_v_lj/univerza_v_stevilkah/SteviloZaposlenihNaDan311208.xls (September 1, 2010)
Verba, S., Lehman Schlozman, K. L. and Brady, H. E. (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).
Vurnik, B. (2003) Vloga ZSMS v procesu demokratizacije Slovenije: (1980–1990): magistrsko delo (Ljubljana: [B. Vurnik]).
Zakon o visokem šolstvu (ZVis). Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 67/1993, 39/1995 Odl.US: U-I-22/94–15, 18/1998 Odl.US: U-I-34/98, 35/1998 Odl.US: U-I-243/95–13, 99/1999, 64/2001, 100/2003, 134/2003-UPB1, 63/2004, 100/2004-UPB2, 94/2006, 119/2006-UPB3, 59/2007-ZŠtip (63/2007 popr.), 15/2008 Odl.US: U-I-370/06–20, 64/2008, 86/2009, 62/2010-ZUPJS.
Zgaga, P. (1999) ‘Avtomonija, to večno vprašanje...’ in K. Majerhold and D. Jelovac (eds), Univerza pleše avtonomno?: prispevki k repertoarju Univerze za tretje tisočletje (V Ljubljani: Študentska organizacija Univerze: Zavod Radio Študent), pp. 31–60.
Zgaga, P. (2009) ‘Higher education and citizenship: “The full range of purposes,”’ European Educational Research Journal, 8(2), 175–88.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Tomaž Deželan and Alem Maksuti
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Deželan, T., Maksuti, A. (2014). The Relevance of Higher Education in Slovenia for Creating Virtuous Citizens and a Working Democracy: An Underexploited Source?. In: Laker, J., Naval, C., Mrnjaus, K. (eds) Citizenship, Democracy and Higher Education in Europe, Canada and the USA. Palgrave Studies in Global Citizenship Education and Democracy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137287489_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137287489_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-44972-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-28748-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political Science CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)