In an attempt to gain a better perspective on the relationship between education and the modern state, this paper reopens the theoretical debate on the key role of formal rationality in Max Weber's interpretation of the capitalist economy and the modern bureaucratic state. Against the background of an extensive review of the development and the theoretical properties of the notion of formal rationality (as exemplified in legal authority), it is argued that the very achievement of formal rationality in social institutions tends to undermine the rationality and autonomy of individual action and participation. The modern bureaucratic state is seen as a conspicuous and inevitable case in point; educational institutions, in emphasizing the importance of technical, specialized knowledge, come increasingly under the influence of bureaucratic norms of formal rationality. As a result, equal educational opportunity finds itself reduced to equal powerlessness in the face of bureaucratic social apparatuses. At the same time, however, education is still capable of playing an important critical role by shedding the light of scientific inquiry on the precarious foundations of the legitimacy of modern relations of domination. (Author)