Scholars from the US & Europe explore the promise of "civil society" to rejeuvenate systems of public education that are frequently characterized by bureaucratic over-regulation, lack of diversity and choice, and inequality of opportunity.

Contents: Preface. H-D. Meyer, W.L. Boyd, Civil Society, Pluralism, and Education--Introduction and Overview. H-D. Meyer, Civil Society and Education--The Return of an Idea. K.A. Strike, Civil Society and Schooling: Particularistic Voices and Public Space. I. Richter, The Idea of an Education Mix: A Proposal to Strengthen Civil Society and Education in Germany. A. Dijkstra, J. Dronkers, Church, State, and Civil Society: The Netherlands' System of Schooling. G. Walford, The State and the Civil Society in Education in England: Past Developments and Current Problems. J. Herbst, Schools Between State and Civil Society in Germany and the United States: A Historical Perspective. H-D. Meyer, Educational Autonomy in a Civil Society: A Model of Checks and Balances. B.S. Cooper, E.V. Randall, Vouchers: Still (Largely) Untested and Why. M. Weiss, Education and the Third Sector: A Critical View. D.J. Brown, School Voluntarism, Social Capital, and Civil Society. W.L. Boyd, Balancing the State, Markets, and Civil Society in Education Reform: Trends and Issues in England and the United States. K. Mundy, L. Murphy, Beyond the Nation-State: Educational Contention in Global Civil Society.