Active citizenship and civic competencies in the Hungarian city of Győr

Abstract

This article is based on the premise that participatory democracy needs active citizens, and active citizens need civic competencies. The goal of this study is to illustrate previous research into active citizenship and civic competencies and to add the own concept of the authors to the literature. The article also provides empirical results from a survey into active citizenship carried out among citizens in Győr, Hungary, 2017. A total of 254 citizens filled out the online and offline questionnaire. The survey sample methods included random and snowball sampling. The sample does not represent the population of Győr, 64.3 per cent were women and about half of the sample were graduate citizens, so the results can be interpreted only to the respondents. Results offer an insight into what citizens think of the concept of active citizenship and which civic competencies they regard as important active participation in society. The article also demonstrates guidance for practitioners and researchers and it adds to the literature on active citizenship. It is possible to believe that knowing what kind of civic competencies people need could be useful to know how to be more active in the society.