ABSTRACT
The public school system in the Federal Republic of Germany is based on the so-called social state clause (e.g., on the constitutional statement contained in Article 20, § 1 of the Basic Constitutional Law that the Federal Republic is a “social” state). This constitutional social state clause does not, however, guarantee any specific organizational form of society; it is merely a declaration of the type of society that is to be aimed at, and although it is not merely a political program but objective law, it is left to the legislature to decide on the precise shape of this society (Jarras & Pieroth, 1992).
