Abstract
The chapter develops a conceptual framework for a comparative analysis of HE policies that enables us to investigate the explanatory power of structural characteristics of political-administrative systems. It compares HE political-administrative structures and university policies in eight countries. The chapter focuses on policy trends in the eight countries, and discusses how the literature on comparative political and administrative systems can help formulate assumptions about public policy-making and policy change. The ideas that are developed are then applied on public reform policies in general and in the area of higher education (HE) in particular. A test of the assumptions on data on reform outcomes indicates that the framework is a useful contribution to understanding cross-national variation in HE reform policies in Europe.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baldersheim, H., & Rose, L. E. (2010). The politics of boundaries and borders. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Bezes, P. (2010). Path-dependent and path-breaking changes in the French administrative system: The weight of legacy explanations. In M. Painter & P. G. Peters (Eds.), Tradition and public administration. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Bleiklie, I. (2006). Policy regimes and policy making. In M. Kogan, M. Bauer, I. Bleiklie, & M. Henkel (Eds.), Transforming higher education: A comparative study. Dordrecht: Springer.
Bleiklie, I., Enders, J., Lepori, B., & Musselin, C. (2011). New public management, network governance and the university as a changing professional organization. In T. Christensen & P. Lægreid (Eds.), Ashgate research companion to new public management (pp. 161–176). Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Bleiklie, I., Høstaker, R., & Vabø, A. (2000). Policy and practice in higher education. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Bleiklie, I., & Lange, S. (2010). Competition and leadership as drivers in German and Norwegian University reforms. Higher Education Policy, 23(2), 173–193.
Corte-Real, I. (2008). Public management reform in Portugal: Successes and failures. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(2).
Esping Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ferlie, E., Musselin, C., & Andresani, G. (2008). The ‘Steering’ of higher education systems: A public management perspective. Higher Education, 56, 325–348.
Hofferbert, R. I., & Cingranelli, D. L. (1996). Public policy and administration: Comparative policy analysis. In R. E. Goodin & H. D. Klingemann (Eds.), A new handbook of political science. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Iversen, T., & Soskcise, D. (2006). Electoral institutions and the politics of coalitions: Why some democracies restribute more than others. American Political Science, 100, 165–181.
Iversen, T., & Stephens, J. D. (2008). Partisan politics, the welfare state and the three worlds of human capital formation. Comparative Political Studies, 41(4–5), 600–637.
Jacobsen, K. D. (1967). Politisk fattigdom. Kontrast, nr. 1, 6–9.
Kingdon, J. W. (1995). Agendas, alternatives and public policies. New York: Harper Collins.
Kogan, M., Bauer, M., Bleiklie, I., & Henkel, M. (2006). Transforming higher education: A comparative study (2nd ed.). Dordrecht: Springer.
Kogan, M., & Hanney, S. (2000). Reforming higher education. Higher education policy series 50. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.
Koppenjan, J., Kars, M., & van der Voort, H. (2009). Vertical politics and horizontal policy networks: Framework setting as coupling arrangement. The Policy Studies Journal, 37(4), 769–792.
Lijphart, A. (1999). Patterns of democracy. Government forms and performance in thirty-six countries. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lodge, M. (2010). Public service bargains in British Central Government: Multiplication, diversification and reassertion? In M. Painter & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Tradition and public administration. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Lynn, J., & Jay, A. (1981). The complete yes minister. Topsfield Mass: MW Books.
McGann, J. G. (2009). The global “go-to think tanks” the leading public policy research organizations in the world. Think tanks and civil societies program. Pennsylvania: International Relations Program, University of Pennsylvania.
Olsen, J. P. (1983). Organized democracy. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget.
Olsen, J. P. (1996). Norway: Slow learner—Or another Triumph of the Tortoise? In J. P. Olsen & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Lessons from experience: Experimental learning in administrative reforms in eight democracies. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
Ongaro, E. (2010). The Napoleonic administrative tradition and public management reform in France, Greece, Italy and Portugal. In M. Painter & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Tradition and public administration. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Ongaro, E., & Valotti, G. (2008). Public management reform in Italy: Explaining the implementation gap. In the International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(2).
Painter, M., & Peters, B. G. (2010a). The analysis of administrative traditions. In M. Painter & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Tradition and public administration. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Painter, M., & Peters, B. G. (2010b). Administrative traditions in comparative perspective: Families, groups and hybrids. In M. Painter & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Tradition and public administration. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Palier, B. (2004). Ambiguous agreement, cumulative change: French social policy in the 1990s. In W. Streeck, & K. Thelen (Eds.), Beyond continuity. Institutional change in advanced political economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Paradeise, C., Reale, E., Bleiklie, I., & Ferlie, E. (Eds.). (2009). University governance: Western European comparative perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer.
Perellon, J. F. (2001). The governance of higher education in a federal country. The case of Switzerland. Tertiary Education and Management, 7(2), 211–224.
Peters, J. B. (2008). The Napoleonic tradition. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(2).
Peters, B. G. (2010). Public administration in the United States: Anglo-American, just American or which American? In M. Painter, & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Tradition and public administration. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Peters, B. G., & Pierre, J. (1998). Governance without government? Rethinking public administration. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 8(2).
Peters, B. G., & Pierre, J. (Eds.). (2002). Politicians. London Routledge: Bureaucrats and Administrative Reform.
Pollitt, C. (1993). Managerialism and the public services (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2004). Public management reform. A comparative analysis, (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rhodes, R. A. W. (1996). The new governance: Governing without government. Political Studies, 44, 652–667.
Rhodes, R. A. W., & Marsh, D. (1992). New directions in the study of policy networks. European Journal of Political Research, 21, 181–205.
Rouban, L. (2008). Reform without doctrine: public management in France In the International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(2).
Suleiman, E. N. (2003). Dismantling the democratic state. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Van Waarden, F. (1992). Dimensions and types of policy networks. European Journal of Political Research, 21, 29–52.
Verhoest, K., Roness, P. G., Verschure, B., Rubecksen, K., & NacCarhaigh, M. (2010). Autonomy and control in state agencies. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Yesilkagit, K. (2010). The future of administrative tradition. In M. Painter & B. G. Peters (Eds.), Administrative traditions: Inheritances and transplants in comparative perspective. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bleiklie, I., Michelsen, S. (2017). Political-Administrative Structures and University Policies. In: Bleiklie, I., Enders, J., Lepori, B. (eds) Managing Universities. Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53865-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53865-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-53864-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-53865-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)