With the current societal transformations, the meaning and role of public education are also changing. Previously structured by organizations and interactions of social control within a nationally limited framework and through state regulation, public education is now increasingly oriented by self-regulation, transnationalization, and networks. This shift raises not only questions about the concrete impacts on the education system but also the effectiveness of various theoretical options for accurately determining the function and change of public education. The book brings together contributions that approach the relationship between education, politics, and society from a diagnostic, theoretical, and empirical perspective. Special attention is given to empowerment.