Understanding democracy therefore requires education ; not indoctrination, but civic learning that helps citizens to identify when democracy is threatened and why liberal val­ues matter. Yet civic education is under strain. In many de­mocracies, it is marginalised in school curricula, treated as politically risky or absent altogether. And adults – those al ­ready beyond formal education – are rarely reached at all. Relearning democracy We need to teach democracy again , not as an abstract constitutional principle, but as a lived practice of rights, ­accountability and pluralism. People can defend only what they understand. Civic education must move beyond the classroom to meet citizens where they already are: online . Today’s information environment is dominated by actors who exploit democrat ­ic ignorance to sow distrust and division. Yet the same digi­tal platforms can also be tools for learning, connection and empowerment. As Louisa Slavkova, co-founder of the Civics Innovation Hub, put it:“When democracy deteriorates, you need more and better civic education. If there’s a pandemic, you send in the doctors; in a democracy crisis, you send in the civic educators“(Tugend 2025). Unfortunately, civic knowledge is declining almost every ­where. The International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS 2022) found that not a single participating country had improved its scores since 2016. In the United Kingdom, only one in five 16–17 year-olds – who will soon be eligible to vote – say that school has prepared them to understand politics and elections(John Smith Centre 2025). Meanwhile, teachers increasingly self-censor out of fear of causing ­political controversy(Tugend 2025). The result is a widening knowledge gap at the very time citizens are more exposed than ever to political messaging, but less equipped to interpret it. Evidence from 33 countries Our ERC-funded project“Democracy under threat: how ­education can save it(DEMED)“ tested whether civic edu ­cation can strengthen democratic values in today’s digital world, and whether it can do so across very different con­texts(Neundorf et al. 2025). Working with a global sample of 33 countries and survey ­ing over 40,000 participants, we designed short, animated videos that explain the core principles of liberal democracy. Each focused on one of three themes: (i) civil rights and liberties; (ii) checks and balances; and (iii) democracy’s social and economic benefits. Participants were randomly assigned to watch one of these short videos or a neutral“placebo“ about space exploration. We then measured changes in democratic knowledge, atti ­tudes and engagement. The results were striking. Across all countries, viewing a three-­minute civic education video increased support for democra­cy , reduced acceptance of authoritarian rule and improved factual understanding of democratic principles(Neundorf et al. 2025). These effects remained measurable for at least ten days, a remarkable impact for such a brief intervention. Civic education works – everywhere Figure 2 Important to live in a democracy 81 85 Liberal understanding of democracy 54 60 Reject all types of authoritarianism 38 44 Active political participation 34 36 0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % Control video Democracy videos 80 % 100 % Note: Short, positive educational content improves democratic understanding across 33 countries, especially among young and politically disengaged citizens. Reclaiming democracy through ­online civic education 3