Political competence of Croatian secondary school students 2010–2021.

This article examines the political competences—defined as a combination of political knowledge and democratic attitudes—of Croatian final-year secondary school students across three research cycles conducted in 2010, 2015, and 2021. The study finds that overall political knowledge levels remain low and stable over time, with significant disparities among students based on the type of secondary school program: general education students consistently demonstrate higher political knowledge and more democratic attitudes, while students in three-year vocational programs show lower knowledge and stronger nationalistic and authoritarian attitudes. Although nationalist and authoritarian attitudes have declined somewhat, democratic activism attitudes remained largely unchanged. The research highlights the lack of systematic civic education in Croatia’s schools as a likely factor influencing these outcomes and underscores the need for targeted educational interventions to foster democratic political culture among youth, especially in vocational education settings.