Promoting citizenship competences for a resilient democracy Balancing between central control and local variety

Education should contribute to a resilient democracy. However, it is far from clear which citizenship competences students should learn and to what extent variation between schools and students is acceptable or even desirable. This chapter reflects on this question using the Netherlands as a case study. The tension between central frameworks and autonomy for schools - inherent in education systems in networked societies - has been rooted in the Netherlands’ constitutional freedom of education for decades. First, an overview is provided of what we know about adolescents’ citizenship competences. It shows how the growing disparities and inequalities in young people’s citizenship development gnaw at our democracy. Next, the chapter discusses how the government can steer the quality of citizenship education in a decentralised system with autonomous schools. The Dutch case shows that effective government steering of citizenship education in complex, networked societies should entail room for schools to take responsibility for fostering their students’ citizenship in their local practice and in their own way. At the same time, the quality of citizenship education as a matter of public interest should be maintained. A common framework for schools, investments in schools’ professionalism and capacity, and monitoring are essential for this purpose.