The social participation is undeniably essential not only in realizing one’s identity but also in its contribution
to the development of a community. Thus, This study aims to analyze how and to what extent social studies
education in schools teaches social participation. Cases of social participation in『Law and Politics』textbooks of
2009 revised National Curriculum were analyzed in terms of spatial scale. For analysis purposes, participation is
to be classified in terms of spatial scale and the process of participation. In terms of spatial scale, participation
takes place on three different levels which are school, local and national, and world-wide, while the process of
participation consists of problem recognition, decision-making, and the act of participation. The act of
participation is further subdivided into voting, cooperation among a group, and the individual act of support.
The findings are as follows. Firstly, Law and Politics showed that participation on the local and national level
was the most prevalent, and such participation dealt with all steps of the participation process. Secondly,
participation on the world-wide level was found to be the second most common form of participation. In terms
of the process of participation, this level dealt mainly with the problem recognition and the act of participation
stages, thus highlighting the necessity of engaging in a wide range of different issues. Lastly, participation cases
on the school level was very few in number compared with those on the other two levels. In other words, there
is only little chance for students to learn of the significance of participation through activities or experience in
textbooks.