The democratic common sense

Abstract

This article highlights ordinary young citizens’ understanding of democracy. In a system based on rule of the people, it is surprising how little attention scholars have paid to common-sense views of democracy. The article is based on focus group interviews with young Swedes. Their views of democracy are analyzed in the context of democratic theory. The results show that there is massive support among the youths for the democratic idea, that they see elite democracy as a self-evident form of democracy and that they consider democracy to be a problematic good, emphasizing their doubts about human capacity, limited ruling opportunities and problems around inequality and risky principles. References to research on Swedish education show that the conceptualizations in several respects reflect how democracy and citizenship are framed in Swedish schools. It is suggested that the results of the study can influence both the form and content of civic education.