CIVIC EDUCATION AND POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE IN AUSTRALIA

As part of the renewed emphasis on national identity and citizenship, interest in civic education in Australia has increased. Although both Labor and Liberal national governments have been committed to introduc ing civic education, there is little research to show that the politic ally knowledgeable citizen is the more sophisticated and competent cit izen. This paper uses survey data collected in 1996 to examine the ext ent of political knowledge in Australia and to analyse its consequence s for political literacy, competence, and participation. The results s how that the median citizen could answer two out of seven factual ques tions correctly, with women, the young and those with less education b eing more likely to provide incorrect answers. The relationship betwee n knowledge and attitudes and behaviour shows that factual knowledge i ncreases political literacy and, to a lesser extent, competence. Howev er, knowledge has little effect on political participation, a major go al for civic education among politicians. Overall, the increased polit ical knowledge that civic education creates is more effective in gener ating positive views of democratic institutions, and less effective in shaping political behaviour.