ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the extent to which education policy can be interpreted as part of a hegemonic state structure as defined by Nicos Poulantzas. It explains the appropriateness of Poulantzas' work as a way of explaining social policy and, specifically, the context of state provision of education. Tracing the historical roots of compulsory education in Europe, A. Green argues that, despite romantic notions of education as part of a process towards democratic enlightenment, the concept of compulsory education actually has its roots in the totalitarian Prussian state of the early nineteenth century. With reference to Green's work, it was the Prussian education system that was the first of its kind in Europe and one that many in England looked to as a model of distinction. The Elementary Education Act of 1870 made state schooling available to for five to ten year-olds, and the 1880 Act made schooling statutory in England.
