Institutional change and path dependencies. Determinants of structural-reform processes in Germany's eastern Laender

在德国统一的过程中，东德各州在1991年实行了不同的中学制度。到目前为止，还缺乏理论指导的分析来揭示这些改革的决定因素或解释各州改革法案之间的差异。本研究采用历史制度主义的观点，旨在调查和比较1990年至1991年东德各州学校结构改革的决策过程。在路径依赖的框架内运作，该项目考察了哪种机制可以解释中学系统的差异。该研究假设功利、功能、权力和合法性机制之间的相互作用解释了学校结构的多样性。这些机制是中学制度惰性的根源和变革的驱动因素。尽管新学校结构发生了变化，但仍有许多与德意志民主共和国学校系统的连续性存在。对于事件序列的实证重建，本研究对议会和非议会文件以及半结构化访谈进行了定性内容分析（Mayring, 2010）。本研究揭示了历史制度概念如何用于分析教育制度的持续和变化。对历史发展动态的分析揭示了学校制度变化潜力的条件，并可能解释当前学校结构的改革进程。

In the course of the reunification of Germany, the East German states implemented different secondary school systems in 1991. So far, there is a lack of theory-guided analysis that could disclose the determinants of these reforms or explain differences between the states` reform bills. By adopting a historical-institutionalist perspective, this study aims to investigate and to compare the decision-making processes in the reform of school structures in the Eastern German states in the years 1990 to 1991. Operating within a framework of path dependence, the project examines which mechanism could explain differences in secondary school systems. The study assumes that an interaction of utilitarian, functional, power-based, and legitimation-based mechanisms explains the diversity of school structures. These mechanisms are the sources of inertia and drivers of change in secondary school systems. Despite all of the changes in the new school structures, a number of continuities with the GDR school system exist. For the empirical reconstruction of the event sequences the study carry out qualitative content analyses (Mayring, 2010) of parliamentary and non-parliamentary documents and semi-structured interviews. This study reveals how historical institutional concepts can be used in the analysis of persistence and change in educational institutions. The analysis of historical development dynamics reveals conditions for the change potentials of school systems and may explain current reform process in school structures.