Description:
The concept of “democracy” is highly emphasized in society as wellas in Swedish school curricula. This article analyses the “supply-side” of education – the textbooks. What various conceptions ofdemocracy do lower secondary pupils meet in history textbooksand how is democracy presented in these books? Have there beenany changes in how the concept of democracy has been introducedbetween the 1960’s and the 2000’s? The first purpose of this articleis to analyse the concept of democracy in lower secondary historytextbooks and confront these representations and interpretationswith political and philosophical theories about democracy. Sec-ondly, I intend to find out whether the textbooks describe andexplain democracy in a historical context that can be useful forlearning and understanding. A contested concept like democracymay also open a way for pupils to understand the historical proc-ess and stimulate their history consciousness.