Facilitating Civic Participation in the Public Sector through Education: A Case Study of Teaching Civic Participation to Future Civil Servants in Germany

Abstract

To counter current political trust and legitimacy crises, political actors in western democracies are introducing participatory involvement measures. For these measures to be effective, certain prerequisites are necessary. Firstly, civil servants’ attitude to public engagement must be positive, they need to appreciate and be willing to encourage deliberation processes and inclusion (willingness). Secondly, public sector officials need to be appropriately equipped with practical skills to know how to introduce and manage civic participation (skills). This paper argues that afore mentioned prerequisites are not sufficiently present, and that education of future civil servants needs to be adjusted in order to qualify graduates of public administration adequately. The paper outlines the structure and methods employed in a practice-oriented course at a German school of public administration.