Education

Abstract

The analysis of the political and institutional connections between education and other parts of the welfare state is an expanding field of scholarship. The chapter starts by discussing the complex relationship between education and socio-economic inequality from a comparative and historical perspective. Discussing the variety of education regimes with a focus on OECD countries, the chapter goes on to highlight differences in the relative importance of education as part of more encompassing welfare state regimes. Furthermore, the chapter identifies different education regimes characterized by features such as levels of spending, the distribution between public and private education spending, the importance of vocational relative to academic education, and institutional stratification in secondary education. These education regimes correspond to a significant extent with established welfare state regime typologies. The final section of the chapter discusses factors that might explain the emergence of distinct and different educational regimes, such as historical legacies, religious heritage, and the balance of power between organized interests and political parties, as well as political institutions.