Can Educational Investment Generate Democratic Returns? A Possible Outlook on How Civic Curriculum Design Influences Economic Mobility and Political Participation

This is a theoretical paper and aims to explore certain views rather than provide a final answer to the issues presented. Therefore, the paper interrogates the conceptual relationship between civic curriculum design, economic mobility, and political participation, starting from a critical perspective on educational investment discourse. The paper does not aim at prescribing an optimal curriculum, rather it examines how different curriculum configurations produce distinct forms of citizenship, economic subjectivity, and democratic practices. These may even be contradictory, but this adds value to the complex educational environment they can produce. The analysis explores the possible tensions between various educational logics and inquires whether the democratic returns might be considered a regulatory concept that disciplines the educational environment. As this research is rather an essay, the bibliography is intended more for orientation purposes than as sources that support the arguments.