This study investigates which historical figures Swedish students identify as democratic role models and the criteria they use in their reasoning. The empirical material consists of 431 responses from a national history test administered to Grade 9 students in 2017, in which students were asked to select and justify a historical democratic role model. Using Dahl's theory of polyarchic democracy, with its emphasis on inclusion and contestation, as an analytical framework, the responses were coded and analysed. Findings reveal a strong concentration of a small set of globally recognized historical figures, primarily Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. followed by Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks. Students' arguments overwhelmingly mobilize inclusion-related ideals, particularly equality and anti-racism, while contestation-oriented arguments, such as voting rights and the rule of law, are comparatively rare. The analysis suggests that students approach history genealogically, using it to affirm contemporary democratic ideals rather than to reconstruct the past on its own terms. Responses often exhibit teleological narratives and, in some cases, biographical inaccuracies, yet choices aligned with culturally canonized democratic icons tend to receive higher grades. This pattern raises questions about the implicit curriculum in history education and its capacity to foster a critical democratic understanding.

This article elaborates on findings made in a special issue collection of research in Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, in terms of how History curricula in different countries frame the development of democratic and historical consciousness. Collectively, these contributions provided analyses across nine countries. The function of this present contribution is to weave together several threads introduced in this special issue and to foreshadow a potential trajectory for further research, guided by the inquiry question: What is the role of historical consciousness in facilitating democratic consciousness? First, an overview is provided of how historical consciousness influences the ways democracy is characterised and engaged with across the nine nations examined in the special issue. Second, the workings of a comparative methodology is explored that sketches out how protective, developmental, and disruptive types of democracy occur in various curriculum documents. It is followed by a discussion about the convergences and divergences between the curriculum texts, in terms of how forms of democracy are articulated in the curriculum. These considerations suggest how the History curriculum in each country influences how understandings of democratic consciousness are developed in tandem with moral and historical consciousness. The conclusion makes the case for how each country might cross-pollinate forms of democracy that are aligned with providing educational equity and producing active and informed citizens.

The aim of the theme issue is to provide analysis of intersections of historical and democratic consciousness expressed in official curriculum documents such as syllabuses that focus on history in eleven countries. Each of the nation states were selected for their diverse trajectories of democratic developments and political cultures. Drawing on comparative education, policy enactment, and critical discourse analysis the content in the official curriculum documents is approached as texts that are informed by historical ideas of the purposes of education that influence present and future orientations and actions. The articles in this theme issue address the following key questions: 1. How is the intersection between historical consciousness and democratic consciousness described in curriculum and/or syllabus documents regarding the history subject in the selected countries?; 2. What kind of consequences for history education do the descriptions in the curriculum and/or syllabus entail?; and 3. How are the democracy traditions of each selected country reflected in the official knowledge of the various curriculum documents?

This article examines how the Danish history curriculum encourages students to understand history and develop a sense of temporal orientation, and how this orientation can be linked to the fostering of democratic consciousness. This syllabus is analysed through critical discourse analysis (CDA). Historical consciousness is described as rooted in history, while also empowering individuals to act. The primary finding regarding democracy suggests a vision where both individuals and smaller communities are not only granted but also expected to exercise their rights to participate in an ever-evolving society. Democracy is portrayed as a daily practice aimed at enhancing one's own life or the community. However, interconnecting historical and democratic consciousness to understand the purpose of history education raises questions about the interpretation of historical guidance. Should it be viewed as a framework that restricts citizens’ ability to act independently or as a tool that offers opportunities for change?

Competências de pensamento histórico e consciência histórica nos exames nacionais de Lukio (Finlândia) e Högstadiet (Suécia)

O principal objetivo deste estudo é analisar a presença de competências de raciocínio e de consciência histórica nos exames de acesso à universidade suecos (Högstadiet) e finlandeses (Lukio). Para além disso, serão, também, analisados os níveis cognitivos desenvolvidos pelos enunciados das questões destes exames. Em termos de metodologia, será efetuada uma análise mista, com estudos quantitativos, estatístico-descritivos, correlacionais e qualitativos dos enunciados das questões. No total, foram analisados 66 enunciados, divididos em dois testes. Os resultados mostram que todos os enunciados estão relacionados com as competências de pensamento histórico em ambos os países, embora existam diferenças entre eles, bem como no nível cognitivo que desenvolvem.

The main aim of this study is to analyse the presence of thinking skills and historical awareness in the Swedish (Gymnasieskola) and Finnish (Lukio) university entrance examinations. In addition, the cognitive levels developed by the statements of the questions in these tests will also be analysed. In terms of methodology, a mixed analysis will be carried out, both with quantitative, statistical-descriptive, correlational and qualitative studies of the question statements. A total of 66 statements, divided into two tests, were analysed. The results show that all the statements are related to historical thinking skills in both countries, although there are differences between them, as well as in the cognitive level they develop.

Most of the history education research that addresses controversial issues suggests that disputes arising in the history classroom are rooted in students’ diverse identities that relate differently to history. Therefore, a history education that wants to ease tensions must try both to make these different identities and their relations to history visible and to enable an understanding of different relations to history based on identity. Starting with Gadamer’s concept of historically effected consciousness, this article outlines a model consisting of ontological third-order concepts and historical empathy in the history education as a suggestion to enable and corroborate constructive deliberative discussions in the history classroom.