"Comparative welfare state research has neglected the study of education for a long time. In particular, very little is known about citizens’ attitudes on education policies and how these attitudes are reflected in processes of policy reform. The core of the proposed project is to conduct an original survey in eight European countries to provide, for the first time, internationally comparative data on individual attitudes and policy preferences on education. Individual attitudes are conceptualized to vary along three dimensions: the level of investment in education relative to other social policies, the promotion of different kinds of education (academic versus vocational education) and the distribution of competencies across levels of governments (governance). Particular attention will be paid to policy feedback effects, i.e. how macro-level institutional contexts (welfare states) shape the dynamics of preference formation on the micro level. Thus, the ultimate goal is to be able to understand cross-national variation in policy attitudes. The second phase of the project will analyze the linkages between attitudes and policy-making, using the insights from the survey. In the form of case studies of recent education reforms, we will ascertain whether policy-makers cater to public opinion in general, particular electoral constituencies or organized interests. The project breaks new ground by expanding research on welfare state attitudes to the field of education policy and improving our general understanding of the linkages between citizens’ preferences and policy-making."