Understanding of Democracy Examined in Pre-school Kids

What did you explore?

Prof. Norbert Zmyj: My colleagues and I analyzed whether, and from what age, pre-school children understand and apply the majority principle. To this end, we tested 156 children aged 3, 4, and 5. In an individual video conference, they were presented with stories in which four children of daycare age voted between two activities – for example, throwing a ball or playing soccer – always with a 3:1 majority. After the vote, the participating children were asked to state what the group should do and to justify their decision. Afterwards, the teacher in the story made a decision, sometimes following the majority, sometimes the minority. In addition, parents were surveyed about opportunities for participation available to their children in daycare.

What results did you obtain?

Only five-year-olds systematically chose the activity preferred by the majority and more often justified their choice with reference to the majority principle. Three- and four-year-olds tended to follow their own preferences. When the teacher made the decision, children of all ages supported it – regardless of whether it reflected the majority or the minority. No connection could be demonstrated between children’s orientation toward the majority and their participation experiences in daycare.

What does this mean for democracy education in daycare centers?

Although there are already many programs for democracy education in daycare, their effectiveness has not been evaluated according to established standards. Moreover, until now there has been no study examining whether children of daycare age even understand the basic principles of democratic processes. Our study suggests that children only begin to grasp the majority principle toward the end of the pre-school years. This raises the question of how, and whether, children in daycare can meaningfully comprehend democracy education. In my view, votes on everyday matters can certainly be conducted there, but it is important to ensure that especially younger children have the voting process explained to them in detail and are given sufficient time for questions. Measures for democracy education in daycare must be carefully evaluated through controlled studies before being implemented on a broad scale. Without such evaluation, ineffective – or even unintentionally democracy-damaging – concepts could be applied. That is something we cannot afford.

What else should democracy education take into account?

Democratic votes and elections in the Federal Republic consist of more than just majority decisions. For example, every vote or election is preceded by debate – and that presupposes the right to free expression of opinion and tolerance toward those who think differently. Anyone who speaks of democracy must also not forget the rule of law, which in many ways places limits on democracy. For instance, minority rights exist that cannot be abolished by a majority. It is certainly not easy to convey these concepts to children in an age-appropriate way. Nevertheless, this must be the aspiration of democracy education in daycare. It must not give the impression that democracy is limited to voting on trivial matters while the teacher decides everything else. For example, all children could be encouraged to express their opinions before a vote and then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different proposals. Ultimately, however, this is only one of several possible ideas for democracy education that would need to be evaluated.

The team recently published its findings in the international journal Social Development:

Link to study

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