When education was instituted as a modern, state-ruled institution in the course of the 19th century this change was not welcomed to the same extent by all segments of society. According to their structural and cultural conditions local communities supported the new form of institutionalization as 'modernizers' or opposed themselves as 'conservatives'. Nevertheless one might expect this cleavage to have disappeared or substituted by new cleavages some 150 or more years later. Structural change within and between lical communities, cultural transformations occurring in the 20th century as well as the increasing impact of global developments should have completely altered the landscape of educational politics.
However, as the analysis of the results of popular votes on educational issues in one part of Switzerland (Kanton Zurich) reveals, over several decades a remarkable stability of readiness to approve or reject educational change and modernization can be observed. The presentation of the empirical analysis is followed by considerations on the impact of political cultures in decision-making in educational politics.
