In recent decades, Western countries have witnessed democratic backsliding, often manifested in efforts to restrict the power of the judiciary. Israel, too, has displayed elements of democratic backsliding, peaking in 2023 with an intense public debate over the judiciary's status, driven by the government's reform plan to curtail its power. In this context, the role of civic education—particularly in Israel, where it holds an exceptional place in the national curriculum—becomes critical. Yet, the absence of a shared, consensus-driven understanding of democracy and its institutions, especially the judiciary, among the general population, suggests that civic education has not fulfilled its unifying potential. This article qualitatively examines key themes, namely, democracy, constitution, and institutions, in the official civics textbooks. The contradictions found between the textbooks regarding the perceptions of these themes reflect the broader divisions within Israeli society regarding the democratic framework and may, in turn, reinforce them. These findings have broader implications for other polarized societies; when fundamental principles are contested, civic education, in its current form, is unlikely to achieve its primary goal of fostering a shared democratic identity. To address this challenge, we argue that elected institutions must first work to establish a minimal consensus on core democratic principles, which can then be reflected and reinforced through civic education.
Neubauer-Shani et al. (Mon,) studied this question.