Partisan Politics, Ability-Tracking, and the Composition of Public Education Spending 1

摘要: This article reconsiders partisan theory in public education. Given a wellestablished link between students’ secondary track choice and parental background, political parties – which are overrepresented among high- or low-income households may use ability-tracking as means to concentrate benefits from resources on their constituencies. In Germany, very early tracking strong background coincide. Evidence panel of 10 West German states over the 1981-2006 period suggests that abilitytracking is supported by high-income/education parties, when office, increase share education spending tracks constituencies overrepresented.