Innovations in Israel’s Civics Textbooks: Enlightening Trends in Non-Western Democracies

Classic Western democracies (those of Western Europe and the Anglophone world) view the teaching of civics as a policy instrument through which liberal values, democracy, and even globalization are introduced to future citizens, thus expecting to assure the persistence of democracy. In present-day d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Israel studies review 2020-12, Vol.35 (3), p.52-71
Main Authors: Galanti, Sigal Ben-Rafael, Carmel, Paz, Levkowitz, Alon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizenship education
Core curriculum
Democracy
Democratization
Eastern Europe
Economic development
Education policy
Elites
Equal rights
Globalization
High schools
Innovations
International relations
Israel
National identity
Nationalism
Patriotism
Politics
Populism
Religion
Secondary schools
Society
Teaching
Textbooks
Traditions
Trends
Values
Western Europe
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Summary:Classic Western democracies (those of Western Europe and the Anglophone world) view the teaching of civics as a policy instrument through which liberal values, democracy, and even globalization are introduced to future citizens, thus expecting to assure the persistence of democracy. In present-day democracies in general, and mainly in non-Western democracies, however, civics assumes other forms, including the study of nationalism. This article analyzes innovations in the teaching of civics in Israel by examining the changes in school textbooks that accompany changing national leaderships. We highlight the current Israeli high school civics textbook, written under a significantly rightist-religious government. Assuming that civics textbooks express the political credo of ruling elites, our findings suggest similarities between trends in Israel and non-Western democracies, hinting at the fragility of democratization in general and chiefly outside the West.
ISSN:2159-0370
2159-0389
DOI:10.3167/isr.2020.350304