Educación cívica y educación ciudadana en México: una perspectiva global y comparada

The critical situation of the world today requires strengthening the culture of peace among countries and the coexistence of cultures and individuals respecting diversity. One way to achieve this is by strengthening citizenship to which basic and higher education can help. Efforts to expand and strengthen citizenship as the exercise of rights and the fulfillment of obligations of various kinds in a society and beyond its borders, have been incessant: from its modern origins to date. Today however, these rights have not been fully guaranteed and its violation occurs in authoritarian regimes, and even in some of the so call “democratic”. While democracy is recognized as the most appropriate way of living in contemporary societies it has yet significant shortcomings such as, for example, a disenchantment of citizens to participate in elections. Civic education in Mexico is part of the curriculum of basic education. School programs focus primarily in describing the structure of the Mexican state, the strengthening of nationalism and in what it means to be "a good citizen". Civic education of young students also occurs in a more informal way through socialization with other colleagues during the years of university life. This article describes and analyzes various programs of civic education and citizenship education developed in Latin America and Mexico over the past two decades. Some proposals derived from the above and whose objective aims at building a global citizenship are also included.