Democratic participation of Indonesian high school students through student councils: A systematic literature review

Luluk Siti Jariyah; Endah Binti Munawaroh; Idang Ramadhan

Authors

Luluk Siti Jariyah Universitas Nusantara PGRI Kediri
Endah Binti Munawaroh Universitas Nusantara PGRI Kediri
Idang Ramadhan Universitas Nusantara PGRI Kediri

Keywords:

Civic Competence, Democratic Participation, Indonesian Students, Middle School, OSIS/Student Council

Abstract

Strengthening democratic values among the younger generation is a crucial mandate of civic education, and the Intra-School Student Organization (OSIS) serves as a primary vehicle for facilitating student participation in school life. However, the effectiveness of OSIS as an authentic democratic learning arena remains understudied. This study aims to synthesize empirical evidence on the forms of student democratic participation, the factors that facilitate and hinder engagement, and the impact of participation on the development of civic competencies. The method used was a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) following PRISMA guidelines. A search of ERIC, Scopus, Scilit, Google Scholar, and Garuda databases yielded 804 records. After a multi-layered selection process, 32 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed using a thematic synthesis approach. The synthesis results indicate that student democratic participation through OSIS is multidimensional, encompassing electoral, deliberative, collaborative, social, and digital participation. Factors facilitating participation include support from supervising teachers and the principal, a democratic school climate, providing space for student voice, and leadership training. Meanwhile, key obstacles include a hierarchical school culture, teacher dominance in decision-making, low levels of democratic literacy, and varying student motivation. Cross-study findings indicate that student council involvement significantly contributes to the development of civic competencies, such as leadership, self-confidence, self-efficacy, critical thinking, discipline, and political literacy. Overall, student council (OSIS) has strong potential as a laboratory of democracy in Indonesian secondary schools. However, optimizing its role requires expanding the space for meaningful participation and redistributing authority that gives students substantive influence in the decision-making process.

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