Strengthening Democracy through Campus: The Influence of Education on Student Political Participation
Keywords:
Democratic Education, Student Engagement, Political Participation, Indonesian General Election, Higher Education Policy
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of democratic education on student engagement in Indonesia’s 2024 General Elections. Using a quantitative survey design, data were collected from 250 students across five universities to examine their understanding of democratic concepts, perceptions of democratic education, and political participation. The findings indicate a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.412, p < 0.001) between democratic education and political engagement. While students exhibit strong foundational knowledge of democracy, their procedural understanding—such as knowledge of institutional mechanisms and electoral processes—remains limited. The study highlights the need for higher education institutions to adopt application-based approaches to democratic education, including electoral simulations, public debates, and advocacy training, to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills. By fostering informed and active political participation, such programs hold the potential to strengthen democratic resilience in Indonesia and other developing democracies. This research contributes to the global discourse on democratic education by providing empirical evidence from a developing country context. Future research should integrate qualitative methods and explore the role of social and institutional factors in shaping political engagement for a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics between education and democracy.
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References
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Amin, M., & Ritonga, A. D. (2024). Diversity, Local Wisdom, and Unique Characteristics of Millennials as Capital for Innovative Learning Models: Evidence from North Sumatra, Indonesia. Societies, 14(12), 260.
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Baistaman, J., Awang, Z., Afthanorhan, A., & Rahim, M. Z. A. (2020). Developing and Validating the Measurement Model for Financial Literacy Construct Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Humanities and Social Science Review, 8(2), 413–422.
Boehm, F. J., & Zhou, X. (2022). Statistical Methods for Mendelian Randomization in Genome-Wide Association Studies: A Review. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 20, 2338–2351.
Chaudhary, A. A. (2022). Asset-Based Vs. Deficit-Based ESL Instruction: Effects On Elementary Students Academic Achievement And Classroom Engagement. Migration Letters, 19(S8), 1763–1774.
Civaner, M. (2008). How does the institutional consciousness of bioethics influence and determine its agenda?: Medical education. In Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences.
Deer, F., & Trickey, J. (2020). The Language of Citizenship: Indigenous Perspectives of Nationhood in Canada. In The Palgrave Handbook of Citizenship and Education (pp. 195–209). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67828-3_76
Deisenrieder, V., Kubisch, S., Keller, L., & Stötter, J. (2020). Bridging the Action Gap by Democratizing Climate Change Education—The Case of KidZ 21 in the Context of Fridays for Future. Sustainability, 12(5), 1748.
Desiriah, E., & Setyarsih, W. (2021). Tinjauan literatur pengembangan instrumen penilaian kemampuan berpikir tingkat tinggi (HOTS) fisika di sma. ORBITA: Jurnal Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Fisika, 7(1), 79–89.
Droubi, S., Heffron, R. J., & McCauley, D. (2022). A Critical Review of Energy Democracy: A Failure to Deliver Justice? Energy Research & Social Science, 86, 102444.
Ehido, A., Awang, Z., Halim, B. A., & Ibeabuchi, C. (2020). Developing Items for Measuring Quality of Work Life Among Malaysian Academics: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Procedure. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, eISSN, 2395–6518.
Eidhof, B., & de Ruyter, D. (2022). Citizenship, self-efficacy, and education: A conceptual review. Theory and Research in Education, 20(1), 64–82.
Fennell, J. M., & Simpson, T. L. (2008). Leo Strauss: Education and the body politic. Critical Studies in Education, 49(1), 49–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508480701813540
Freeman, S. (2020). Democracy, Religion & Public Reason. Daedalus, 149(3), 37–58.
Gaffar, A. (1999). Politik Indonesia Transisi Menuju Demokrasi. Pustaka Belajar.
Glaser, J. M., Berry, J. M., & Schildkraut, D. J. (2021). Education and the Curious Case of Conservative Compromise. Political Research Quarterly, 74(1), 59–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912919866509
Gollust, S. E., & Rahn, W. M. (2015). The bodies politic: Chronic health conditions and voter turnout in the 2008 election. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 40(6), 1115–1155. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-3424450
Gonaygunta, H., Meduri, S. S., Podicheti, S., & Nadella, G. S. (2023). The Impact of Virtual Reality on Social Interaction and Relationship via Statistical Analysis. International Journal of Machine Learning for Sustainable Development, 5(2), 1–20.
Helbing, D., Mahajan, S., Fricker, R. H., Musso, A., Hausladen, C. I., Carissimo, C., Carpentras, D., Stockinger, E., Sanchez-Vaquerizo, J. A., & Yang, J. C. (2023). Democracy by Design: Perspectives for Digitally Assisted, Participatory Upgrades of Society. Journal of Computational Science, 71, 102061.
Holbein, J. B., Hillygus, D. S., Lenard, M. A., Gibson-Davis, C., & Hill, D. V. (2020). The Development of Students’ Engagement in School, Community and Democracy. British Journal of Political Science, 50(4), 1439–1457.
Jenkins, D. G., & Quintana-Ascencio, P. F. (2020). A Solution to Minimum Sample Size for Regressions. PloS One, 15(2), e0229345.
Kiess, J. (2022). Learning by Doing: The Impact of Experiencing Democracy in Education on Political Trust and Participation. Politics, 42(1), 75–94.
Maulud, D., & Abdulazeez, A. M. (2020). A Review on Linear Regression Comprehensive in Machine Learning. Journal of Applied Science and Technology Trends, 1(2), 140–147.
Mohajan, H. K. (2020). Quantitative research: A Successful Investigation in Natural and Social Sciences. Journal of Economic Development, Environment, and People, 9(4), 50–79.
Mohamed, N. A., & Kulmie, D. A. (2023). Role of Effective Monitoring and Evaluation in Promoting Good Governance in Public Institutions. Public Administration Research, 12(2), 48.
Mweshi, G. K., & Sakyi, K. (2020). Application of Sampling Methods for the Research Design. Archives of Business Review–Vol, 8(11), 180–193.
Oktavianingrum, V. P., An, R., & Syakhila, H. D. (2024). Demokrasi yang Berkualitas: Peran Mahasiswa dan Generasi Milenial dalam Pengawasan Pemilu 2024. Yustisia Merdeka: Jurnal Ilmiah Hukum, 9(1), 55–61.
Phillips, D. P. (2014). Embodied Civic Education: The Corporeality of a Civil Body Politic. Journal of Pedagogy, 5(1), 90–114. https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2014-0005
Pilati, A. F., & Filho, R. O. (2019). The crisis of democracy in Latin America and exercising citizenship through rereading participatory democracy. Law of Justice Journal, 33(2), 67–88. https://doi.org/10.5335/rjd.v33i2.10110
Polizzi, G. (2020). Information Literacy in the Digital Age: Why Critical Digital Literacy Matters for Democracy. Informed Societies: Why Information Literacy Matters for Citizenship, Participation, and Democracy, 1–23.
Prakoso, P., Rokhman, F., & Handoyo, E. (2024). Pancasila as a Foundation for Legal Reform: Evaluating the Impact of Civic Education on Indonesian Legal Systems. Journal of Law and Legal Reform, 5(3), 1429–1468.
Prigent, S. (2019). ‘Education for All’ in Cambodia: Democratic Educational and Children’s Empowerment Global Values Facing State Patronage. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 20(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2018.1548643
Rahman, M. M., Tabash, M. I., Salamzadeh, A., Abduli, S., & Rahaman, M. S. (2022). Sampling Techniques (probability) for Quantitative Social Science Researchers: A Conceptual Guidelines With Examples. See Review, 17(1), 42–51.
Resch, K., & Schrittesser, I. (2023). Using the Service-Learning Approach to Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 27(10), 1118–1132.
Saeed, B., Tasmin, R., Mahmood, A., & Hafeez, A. (2022). Development of a Multi-Item Operational Excellence Scale: Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The TQM Journal, 34(3), 576–602.
Sampaio de Oliveira, A. A., & Leite, L. P. (2007). Construction of an inclusive educational system: A politic-pedagogical challenge. Ensaio, 15(57), 511–524. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-40362007000400004
Saud, M., & Margono, H. (2021). Indonesia’s Rise in Digital Democracy and Youth’s Political Participation. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 18(4), 443–454.
Selvan, C., & Balasundaram, S. R. (2021). Data Analysis in Context-Based Statistical Modeling in Predictive Analytics. In Handbook of Research on Engineering, Business, and Healthcare Applications of Data Science and Analytics (pp. 96–114). IGI Global.
Streitwieser, B., Bryant, F. B., Drane, D., & Light, G. (2019). Assessing student conceptions of international experience: Developing a validated survey instrument. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 68(2), 26–43.
Sutherland, S. (2023). Digital Technology Transformation in Enhancing Public Participation in Democratic Processes. Technology and Society Perspectives (TACIT), 1(1), 10–17.
Teegelbeckers, J. Y., Nieuwelink, H., & Oostdam, R. J. (2023). School-Based Teaching for Democracy: A Systematic Review of Teaching Methods in Quantitative Intervention Studies. Educational Research Review, 39, 100511.
Timidi, E. T., & Okuro, G. (2024). The Power of Education in Shaping Democratic Citizenship and Good Governance. Studies in Humanities and Education, 5(2), 52–62.
Torney‐Purta, J., Cabrera, J. C., Roohr, K. C., Liu, O. L., & Rios, J. A. (2015). Assessing civic competency and engagement in higher education: Research background, frameworks, and directions for next‐generation assessment. ETS Research Report Series, 2015(2), 1–48.
Tresiana, N., Duadji, N., & Damayantie, A. (2023). Deliberative Democracy Innovations at Citizen Level: Challenges of Local Government in Indonesia. Lex Localis: Journal of Local Self-Government, 21(4).
Velasco, A. S. C., Arregi-Orue, J. I., Onaidia, L. A., & Arriola, J. J. L. (2023). Teacher Training for Social Sciences Education and a Democratic Citizenship in a Postconflict Society. The Case of the Basque Country. Journal of Social Science Education, 22(3). https://doi.org/10.11576/jsse-4819
Willeck, C., & Mendelberg, T. (2022). Education and Political Participation. Annual Review of Political Science, 25(1), 89–110.
Zagrebina, A. (2020). Concepts of Democracy in Democratic and Nondemocratic Countries. International Political Science Review, 41(2), 174–191.
Zhong, J. (2021). Exploring and Researching Ideological and Political Education of College Students’ Psychological Quality for the Development of Artificial Intelligence. Mobile Information Systems, 2021(1), 245–255.
Amin, M., & Ritonga, A. D. (2024). Diversity, Local Wisdom, and Unique Characteristics of Millennials as Capital for Innovative Learning Models: Evidence from North Sumatra, Indonesia. Societies, 14(12), 260.
Anjarsari, R. (2023). Implementing the Role of The NGOs in Curricular and Societal PPKn Through Political Literacy in Indonesia. RSF Conference Series: Business, Management and Social Sciences, 3(3), 77–85.
Baistaman, J., Awang, Z., Afthanorhan, A., & Rahim, M. Z. A. (2020). Developing and Validating the Measurement Model for Financial Literacy Construct Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Humanities and Social Science Review, 8(2), 413–422.
Boehm, F. J., & Zhou, X. (2022). Statistical Methods for Mendelian Randomization in Genome-Wide Association Studies: A Review. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 20, 2338–2351.
Chaudhary, A. A. (2022). Asset-Based Vs. Deficit-Based ESL Instruction: Effects On Elementary Students Academic Achievement And Classroom Engagement. Migration Letters, 19(S8), 1763–1774.
Civaner, M. (2008). How does the institutional consciousness of bioethics influence and determine its agenda?: Medical education. In Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences.
Deer, F., & Trickey, J. (2020). The Language of Citizenship: Indigenous Perspectives of Nationhood in Canada. In The Palgrave Handbook of Citizenship and Education (pp. 195–209). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67828-3_76
Deisenrieder, V., Kubisch, S., Keller, L., & Stötter, J. (2020). Bridging the Action Gap by Democratizing Climate Change Education—The Case of KidZ 21 in the Context of Fridays for Future. Sustainability, 12(5), 1748.
Desiriah, E., & Setyarsih, W. (2021). Tinjauan literatur pengembangan instrumen penilaian kemampuan berpikir tingkat tinggi (HOTS) fisika di sma. ORBITA: Jurnal Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Fisika, 7(1), 79–89.
Droubi, S., Heffron, R. J., & McCauley, D. (2022). A Critical Review of Energy Democracy: A Failure to Deliver Justice? Energy Research & Social Science, 86, 102444.
Ehido, A., Awang, Z., Halim, B. A., & Ibeabuchi, C. (2020). Developing Items for Measuring Quality of Work Life Among Malaysian Academics: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Procedure. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, eISSN, 2395–6518.
Eidhof, B., & de Ruyter, D. (2022). Citizenship, self-efficacy, and education: A conceptual review. Theory and Research in Education, 20(1), 64–82.
Fennell, J. M., & Simpson, T. L. (2008). Leo Strauss: Education and the body politic. Critical Studies in Education, 49(1), 49–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508480701813540
Freeman, S. (2020). Democracy, Religion & Public Reason. Daedalus, 149(3), 37–58.
Gaffar, A. (1999). Politik Indonesia Transisi Menuju Demokrasi. Pustaka Belajar.
Glaser, J. M., Berry, J. M., & Schildkraut, D. J. (2021). Education and the Curious Case of Conservative Compromise. Political Research Quarterly, 74(1), 59–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912919866509
Gollust, S. E., & Rahn, W. M. (2015). The bodies politic: Chronic health conditions and voter turnout in the 2008 election. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 40(6), 1115–1155. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-3424450
Gonaygunta, H., Meduri, S. S., Podicheti, S., & Nadella, G. S. (2023). The Impact of Virtual Reality on Social Interaction and Relationship via Statistical Analysis. International Journal of Machine Learning for Sustainable Development, 5(2), 1–20.
Helbing, D., Mahajan, S., Fricker, R. H., Musso, A., Hausladen, C. I., Carissimo, C., Carpentras, D., Stockinger, E., Sanchez-Vaquerizo, J. A., & Yang, J. C. (2023). Democracy by Design: Perspectives for Digitally Assisted, Participatory Upgrades of Society. Journal of Computational Science, 71, 102061.
Holbein, J. B., Hillygus, D. S., Lenard, M. A., Gibson-Davis, C., & Hill, D. V. (2020). The Development of Students’ Engagement in School, Community and Democracy. British Journal of Political Science, 50(4), 1439–1457.
Jenkins, D. G., & Quintana-Ascencio, P. F. (2020). A Solution to Minimum Sample Size for Regressions. PloS One, 15(2), e0229345.
Kiess, J. (2022). Learning by Doing: The Impact of Experiencing Democracy in Education on Political Trust and Participation. Politics, 42(1), 75–94.
Maulud, D., & Abdulazeez, A. M. (2020). A Review on Linear Regression Comprehensive in Machine Learning. Journal of Applied Science and Technology Trends, 1(2), 140–147.
Mohajan, H. K. (2020). Quantitative research: A Successful Investigation in Natural and Social Sciences. Journal of Economic Development, Environment, and People, 9(4), 50–79.
Mohamed, N. A., & Kulmie, D. A. (2023). Role of Effective Monitoring and Evaluation in Promoting Good Governance in Public Institutions. Public Administration Research, 12(2), 48.
Mweshi, G. K., & Sakyi, K. (2020). Application of Sampling Methods for the Research Design. Archives of Business Review–Vol, 8(11), 180–193.
Oktavianingrum, V. P., An, R., & Syakhila, H. D. (2024). Demokrasi yang Berkualitas: Peran Mahasiswa dan Generasi Milenial dalam Pengawasan Pemilu 2024. Yustisia Merdeka: Jurnal Ilmiah Hukum, 9(1), 55–61.
Phillips, D. P. (2014). Embodied Civic Education: The Corporeality of a Civil Body Politic. Journal of Pedagogy, 5(1), 90–114. https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2014-0005
Pilati, A. F., & Filho, R. O. (2019). The crisis of democracy in Latin America and exercising citizenship through rereading participatory democracy. Law of Justice Journal, 33(2), 67–88. https://doi.org/10.5335/rjd.v33i2.10110
Polizzi, G. (2020). Information Literacy in the Digital Age: Why Critical Digital Literacy Matters for Democracy. Informed Societies: Why Information Literacy Matters for Citizenship, Participation, and Democracy, 1–23.
Prakoso, P., Rokhman, F., & Handoyo, E. (2024). Pancasila as a Foundation for Legal Reform: Evaluating the Impact of Civic Education on Indonesian Legal Systems. Journal of Law and Legal Reform, 5(3), 1429–1468.
Prigent, S. (2019). ‘Education for All’ in Cambodia: Democratic Educational and Children’s Empowerment Global Values Facing State Patronage. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 20(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2018.1548643
Rahman, M. M., Tabash, M. I., Salamzadeh, A., Abduli, S., & Rahaman, M. S. (2022). Sampling Techniques (probability) for Quantitative Social Science Researchers: A Conceptual Guidelines With Examples. See Review, 17(1), 42–51.
Resch, K., & Schrittesser, I. (2023). Using the Service-Learning Approach to Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 27(10), 1118–1132.
Saeed, B., Tasmin, R., Mahmood, A., & Hafeez, A. (2022). Development of a Multi-Item Operational Excellence Scale: Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The TQM Journal, 34(3), 576–602.
Sampaio de Oliveira, A. A., & Leite, L. P. (2007). Construction of an inclusive educational system: A politic-pedagogical challenge. Ensaio, 15(57), 511–524. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-40362007000400004
Saud, M., & Margono, H. (2021). Indonesia’s Rise in Digital Democracy and Youth’s Political Participation. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 18(4), 443–454.
Selvan, C., & Balasundaram, S. R. (2021). Data Analysis in Context-Based Statistical Modeling in Predictive Analytics. In Handbook of Research on Engineering, Business, and Healthcare Applications of Data Science and Analytics (pp. 96–114). IGI Global.
Streitwieser, B., Bryant, F. B., Drane, D., & Light, G. (2019). Assessing student conceptions of international experience: Developing a validated survey instrument. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 68(2), 26–43.
Sutherland, S. (2023). Digital Technology Transformation in Enhancing Public Participation in Democratic Processes. Technology and Society Perspectives (TACIT), 1(1), 10–17.
Teegelbeckers, J. Y., Nieuwelink, H., & Oostdam, R. J. (2023). School-Based Teaching for Democracy: A Systematic Review of Teaching Methods in Quantitative Intervention Studies. Educational Research Review, 39, 100511.
Timidi, E. T., & Okuro, G. (2024). The Power of Education in Shaping Democratic Citizenship and Good Governance. Studies in Humanities and Education, 5(2), 52–62.
Torney‐Purta, J., Cabrera, J. C., Roohr, K. C., Liu, O. L., & Rios, J. A. (2015). Assessing civic competency and engagement in higher education: Research background, frameworks, and directions for next‐generation assessment. ETS Research Report Series, 2015(2), 1–48.
Tresiana, N., Duadji, N., & Damayantie, A. (2023). Deliberative Democracy Innovations at Citizen Level: Challenges of Local Government in Indonesia. Lex Localis: Journal of Local Self-Government, 21(4).
Velasco, A. S. C., Arregi-Orue, J. I., Onaidia, L. A., & Arriola, J. J. L. (2023). Teacher Training for Social Sciences Education and a Democratic Citizenship in a Postconflict Society. The Case of the Basque Country. Journal of Social Science Education, 22(3). https://doi.org/10.11576/jsse-4819
Willeck, C., & Mendelberg, T. (2022). Education and Political Participation. Annual Review of Political Science, 25(1), 89–110.
Zagrebina, A. (2020). Concepts of Democracy in Democratic and Nondemocratic Countries. International Political Science Review, 41(2), 174–191.
Zhong, J. (2021). Exploring and Researching Ideological and Political Education of College Students’ Psychological Quality for the Development of Artificial Intelligence. Mobile Information Systems, 2021(1), 245–255.
Published
2025-03-11
How to Cite
Sadeli, E. (2025). Strengthening Democracy through Campus: The Influence of Education on Student Political Participation. QALAMUNA: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, Dan Agama, 17(1), 99-110. https://doi.org/10.37680/qalamuna.v17i1.6762
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