Abstract

To ensure political competence in the electorate, German-speaking didactics of civic education demands that voters have a political knowledge, the capacity for judgment, and action competence. This contribution discusses which insights and tasks may be deduced from empirical political science, which explores the behaviour of politically well- or less well-educated citizens, with a view to further developing the German-speaking model of political competence. The results of political science studies show that a greater knowledge of political institutions positively impacts individual political behaviour. Results may well suggest that a knowledge of political institutions is enough for individuals to take independent, self-determined political action. One future task for German-speaking didactics of civic eduation is to furnish empirical evidence for the benefits of the political competence model, as against the knowledge of political institutions, for the electorate’s political independence and self-determination.