Citizenship activity and democracy perception among young Czechs whose parents 'jingled keys' during the 'Velvet Revolution'
Abstrakt
The Czech Republic has a quite turbulent history in terms of citizenship, experiencing democracy, Nazism, a long period of socialism, and now democracy once again. Citizenship education, or civic education, has a long history in the Czech school curriculum.
Previous studies have shown, however, that Czech young people are not prone to active citizenship. This chapter presents research conducted in 2019 on citizenship activity and perception of democracy in university students aged 18 to 30.
A total of 303 students participated (51.1% females). The results indicated that young Czech adults perceived a decline in media independence and repression and intimidation.
Furthermore, there was polarization in the citizenship activity that was endorsed. A substantial number of Czech students were interested in the current situation and public affairs and participate in activities such as voting.
Yet there were a number who were also alienated from the citizenship activity and not interested in public affairs and civic engagement.