抄録
This paper examines the Conservative government’s political stance on citizenship and citizenship education by analysing House of Lords committee reports and the government’s responses. During the tenure of the Conservative government—from the coalition of 2010 to the single-party govern- ment from 2015-2024—citizenship as a concept of social integration has received limited attention, and citizenship education policies have been similarly overlooked. This is a notable shift from the former Conservative government（1979–1997）, which prioritised citizenship as a key policy principle and actively promoted citizenship education. This paper aims to uncover the rationale behind this shift.
The research methodology employed is policy analysis through documentary research, concen- trating on a sequence of interactions initiated by the 2018 report from the House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement. The analysis focuses on differing perspectives on citizenship and citizenship education, as presented by the House of Lords Committee and the gov- ernment.
The Committee’s report defines active citizenship through several dichotomies: ‘volunteering versus democratic participation’, ‘individualised versus collective political concepts’, ‘knowledge versus practice’, and ‘thin versus politically-enriched concepts of citizenship’. It is observed that the Conservative government emphasises the former attributes more strongly, in contrast to the former government’s focus on volunteerism.
Regarding citizenship education, shifts in school governance such as academisation have dimin- ished the obligation to adhere to the national curriculum. There has been an increased focus on knowledge, exemplified by the 2013 national curriculum revision and the introduction of the English Baccalaureate, emphasising core subjects. Additionally, the government’s approach includes changes in Ofsted inspections and a lack of specific measures for teachers of citizenship education.
The paper concludes that the government’s inattention to citizenship as a concept of social inte- gration stems from an expanded and deepened definition of citizenship that incorporates political ele- ments noted in the Committee’s report. The broader and more complex definition, developed under the New Labour government of the 1990s, makes it challenging to use ‘active citizenship’ narrowly as a policy term. The term ‘citizenship education’ is also underutilised because it does not align with the government’s priorities, which emphasise values, volunteering, and individual orientation. In sum- mary, the Conservative government’s stance on citizenship and citizenship education represents a significant regression and narrowing of the policy debate since the 1980s.
https://ror.org/02956yf07 
