Are democratic student councils possible?

Abstract

Empirical research suggests that student councils in secondary and primary education hardly live up to democrativ standards, and their importance in Norwegian curricular and legal frameworks is about to be reduced. It is therefore highly urgent to discuss what democratic councils could be, in order to contribute to their revitalization. Thus, the point of departure is a normative belief in the student councils. The approach is to draw on theories of democracy as a form of government in which citizens participate, and to suggest how student councils may realize the requirements of such theories concerning elections, intra-council processes and in council – school management relations