The main focus of this study is to compare the perceptions of 8th grade American and Turkish students about citizenship. The IEA Civic Education Study provides a resource for such an investigation. The research sample was composed of 423 American and 414 Turkish students. According to the research results, American and Turkish students have the highest difference of opinion in the category of “Would be willing to serve in the military to defend the country.” In contrast, they have the lowest difference of opinion in the area of “working hard”. At the end of the study, the researcher discussed the factors which might have had the effect on students’ perceptions about citizenship.

Keywords: Citizenship, American Citizenship Education, Turkish Citizenship Education, Social Studies Curriculum