You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Received: 20 January 2026 Revised: 20 January 2026 Accepted: 21 January 2026
Democracies around the world are in danger.
Safeguarding democracy requires a commitment to upholding democratic values, strengthening institutions, promoting civic engagement, and combating disinformation. But, what does this really mean? Historically, in the United States—and to a great extent around the world—civics education has focused on civically informed knowledge: “What is the electoral college?” and “What are the branches of the government?.” We have focused much less on the skills and understandings that support an engaged democratic citizenry (Cohen 2006; Cohen et al. 2010; Educating for American Democracy [EAD] 2021).
In this special issue on Interdisciplinary perspectives on effective democratic citizenry, I have asked an inter-disciplinary group of scholars to consider one or more of the following questions: What does it mean to be an effective citizen in a democracy? What are the skills, knowledge and dispositions that support effective citizenry? What are the strengths and limitations of thinking about effective citizenry from intrapsychic, interpersonal and/or group perspectives? How can and do given types of institutions—Kindergarten through grade 12 schools (K-12 schools); the free press; and more—support the development of informed and engaged democratic citizens? And, given these understandings, what are their recommendations?
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Democratic Citizenry: There are many overlapping and complementary perspectives regarding what democracy means, and similarly, a range of disciplinary frameworks for thinking about democratic citizenry. We asked our contributors to explore how their fields—anthropology and sociology, economics, education, history, psychology, and psychoanalysis—help us understand and strengthen civic engagement. Each of these perspectives address how citizens navigate civic participation—alienated, passive, disengaged or engaged—but