Higher Education Governance and Policy Change in Western Europe International Challenges to Historical Institutions

by Dobbins, Michael; Knill, Christoph

• ISBN13: 9781137399847
• ISBN10: 1137399848
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-06-11
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book provides a systematic, comparative analysis of the impact of 'soft Europeanization' on higher education governance in Western Europe. Focusing on the four countries that initiated the Bologna Process – Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Michael Dobbins and Christoph Knill explore how the tensions between historical legacies and transnational forces of change have impacted policy pathways. Higher Education Governance and Policy Change in Western Europe tackles the key question of whether or not the Europeanization of the policy field has pushed Western European higher education systems towards a common governance model.

Author Biography

Michael Dobbins is Junior Professor of Education Policy at the Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany. He is also affiliated with the Collaborative Research Centre Transformations of the State, University of Bremen, Germany. He has previously published Higher Education Policies in Central and Eastern Europe.

Christoph Knill is Chair of Comparative Public Policy and Administration at the University of Konstanz, Germany. He has previously published The Europeanization of National Administrations, Cross-National Policy Convergence and Environmental Policy Convergence in Europe.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Higher Education Governance between Historical Roots and Transnational Convergence Pressures

2. Theoretical Framework: National Higher Education Policies between Transnational Communication and Institutional Path-Dependence

3. France: More State, More Market and More Humboldt?

4. Italy: The "Outsmarted" State?

5. Great Britain: Policy "Doubling-Down" as a Response to Transnationalization?

6. Germany: From Humboldtism to "Constrained Marketization"

7. Comparative Conclusions