Prisoners of History: Explaining Why Statist Belgium Has School Vouchers While Liberal America Does Not

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe United States is widely characterized as having liberal (limited state) ideology and institutions, while Belgium is relatively statist. Yet the United States relies primarily on local public monopolies to provide elementary and secondary education, while Belgium provides schooling through robust education free markets including and in some locales dominated by publicly funded faith-based schools. We present comparative case studies of the evolution of each educational system, in search of explanations. Our American case summarizes prior accounts, while the Belgian case uses archival research. The evolution of each system reflects similar late 19th and early 20th Century conflicts between the Catholic Church and the state, though American “public” schools were essentially Protestant, and Protestant majorities eventually imposed state-funded quasimonopolies. In contrast, in Belgium the contending parties (traditionalist Catholics opposing Liberals) had relatively equal political power over the long term, giving each incentives for market-based compromises which still endure Belgian school wars, Blaine Amendments, Catholic education, school choice and religion, school vouchers.