There is a substantial decline of confidence in public education in the United States. This decline mirrors and reflects an erosion of confidence in public authority and institutions in general. Dissatisfaction with public education may well contribute to and, thereby, engender further cynicism towards the state. (RM)

Data from the last several decades indicate that declining public confidence in education may be closely related to declining confidence in the authority and legitimacy of the state. Annual survey data from Gallup and others and data on declining public approval of school bond issues show the drop in public confidence in education in the 1960s and…

In recent years, arguments have been advanced from a number of theoretical perspectives in social science that the modern state faces a crisis of legitimacy in its relationship to its society and its citizens. Much governmental behavior in the area of educational policy can be interpreted as a strategy of "compensatory…