Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Higher Education, Policy Networks, and Policy Entrepreneurship in Africa: The Case of the Association of African Universities

  • Article
  • Published:
Higher Education Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Higher education institutions in Africa are increasingly vital to development efforts. While there is burgeoning research that suggests many universities are reforming in order to include intentional development efforts, perceived crisis and the paucity of resources on the continent has created a contentious relationship between higher education and development. To surmount this prevailing sentiment, alternative organizations that facilitate higher education's contribution to the development process in Africa should be considered. One such alternative is the higher education policy network. This case study examined the Association of African Universities (AAU) as a policy network influencing development in Africa. The results are interpreted through Roberts and King's (1991) notion of policy entrepreneurship, a framework that provides an analytical understanding of AAU activities in policymaking and development. We suggest that this framework may be pursued with more intentionality by higher education policy networks, particularly in regard to building organizational capacity and monitoring and evaluating policy innovations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajayi, J., Goma, L. and Johnson, G. (1996) The African Experience with Higher Education, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altbach, P. (2001) ‘Higher education and the WTO: Globalization run amok’, International Higher Education (23): 2–4.

  • Anderson, J. (2010) Public Policymaking, Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, D., Canning, D. and Chan, K. (2006) Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa, Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bollag, B. (2001) ‘African universities begin to face the enormity of their losses to AIDS’, The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A45, http://chronicle.com/article/African-Universities-Begin-to/10048/#top, accessed 2 March 2010.

  • Commission for Africa. (2005) Our Common Interest: The Report of the Commission for Africa, London: Commission for Africa.

  • Creswell, J. (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dey, I. (1999) Grounding Grounded Theory: Guidelines for Qualitative Inquiry, San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Furniss, G. (2005) ‘Higher education in Africa: The Commission for Africa’, Review of African Political Economy 32 (104/105): 446–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harriss, J. (2002) ‘The case for cross-disciplinary approaches in international development’, World Development 30 (3): 487–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heclo, H. (1978) ‘Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment’, in A. King (ed.) The New American Political System, Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, pp. 87–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, A.T. and Hirt, J.B. (2010) ‘Reshaping academic capitalism to meet development priorities: The case of public universities in Kenya’, Higher Education, advance online publication, doi 10.1007/s10734-010-9342-6.

  • Keck, M.E. and Sikkink, K. (1998) Activists without Borders, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiely, R. (2007) The New Political Economy of Development: Globalization, Imperialism, and Hegemony, Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon, J. (1995) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, New York: Harper Collins College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerche, J. (2008) ‘Transnational advocacy networks and affirmative action for dalits in India’, Development and Change 39 (2): 239–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, J. (1994) ‘The state, civil society and regional elites: A study of three associations in Kano, Nigeria’, African Affairs 93 (370): 21–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeely, C. (1995) ‘Prescribing national education policies: The role of international organizations’, Comparative Education Review 39 (4): 483–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelson, S. and Glenn, J. (2002) ‘Transnational Networks and NGOs in Postcommunist Societies’, in S. Mendelson and J. Glenn (eds.) The Power and Limits of NGOs: A Critical Look at Building Democracy in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Columbia, NY: Columbia University Press, pp. 1–28.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mintrom, M. (1997) ‘Policy entrepreneurs and the diffusion of innovation’, American Journal of Political Science 41 (3): 738–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mintrom, M. and Vergari, S. (1998) ‘Policy networks and innovation diffusion: The case of state education reforms’, The Journal of Politics 60 (1): 126–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morley, L., Leach, F. and Lugg, R. (2009) ‘Democratising higher education in Ghana and Tanzania: Opportunity structures and social inequalities’, International Journal of Educational Development 29: 56–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, K. and Murphy, L. (2001) ‘Transnational advocacy, global civil society? Emerging evidence from the field of education’, Comparative Education Review 45 (1): 85–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (1996) ‘The Culture of Networking in Educational Research in Eastern and Southern Africa’, in N. McGinn (ed.) Crossing Lines: Research and Policy Networks for Developing Country Education, Westport, CT: Praeger, pp. 79–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngome, C. (2003) ‘Kenya’, in D. Teferra and P. Altbach (eds.) African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, pp. 359–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okolie, A. (2003) ‘Producing knowledge for sustainable development in Africa: Implications for higher education’, Higher Education 46 (2): 235–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perkin, E. and Court, J. (2005) Networks and Policy Processes in International Development: A Literature Review, London: Overseas Development Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ploghoft, M.E. (1996) ‘The African Educational Network: Progress and Prospects at Mid-decade’, in N. McGinn (ed.) Crossing Lines: Research and Policy Networks for Developing Country Education, Westport, CT: Praeger, pp. 91–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puplampu, K. (2006) ‘Critical Perspectives on Higher Education and Globalization in Africa’, in A. Abdi, K. Puplampu and G. Sefa Dei (eds.) African Education and Globalization: Critical Perspectives, Lanham, MD: Lexington, pp. 31–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rapley, J. (2002) Understanding Development: Theory and Practice in the Third World, 2nd edn, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, N. and King, P. (1991) ‘Policy entrepreneurs: Their activity structure and function in the policy process’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 1 (2): 147–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, N. and King, P. (1996) Transforming Public Policy: Dynamics of Policy Entrepreneurship and Innovation, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossman, G. and Rallis, S. (2003) Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 2nd edn, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmi, J. (1992) ‘The higher education crisis in developing countries: Issues, problems, constraints and reforms’, International Review of Education 38 (1): 19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawyerr, A. (2004) ‘Challenges facing African universities: Selected issues’, African Studies Review 47 (1): 1–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. (2001) ‘Towards a New Paradigm of Development’, in H.-J. Chang (ed.) The Rebel Within, London: Wimbledon, pp. 57–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, A.L. and Corbin, J.M. (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Task Force on Higher Education and Society. (2000) Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise, Washington, DC: The World Bank.

  • Tikly, L. (2001) ‘Globalisation and education in the postcolonial world: Towards a conceptual framework’, Comparative Education 37 (2): 151–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toye, J. (2000) ‘Fiscal crisis and fiscal reform in developing countries’, Cambridge Journal of Economics 24: 21–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Audenhove, L. (1998) ‘Development cooperation and linkages in higher education: Key issues concerning policy and organisation’, International Review of Education 44 (5/6): 531–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J.A. (1999) ‘Civil society, the challenge to the authoritarian state and the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria’, Issue: A Journal of Opinion 27 (1): 54–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woods, D. (1994) ‘Elites, ethnicity, and “home town” associations in the Cote d’Ivoire: An historical analysis of state/society links’, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 64 (4): 465–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willis, K. (2005) Theories and Practices of Development, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winberg, C. (2006) ‘Undisciplining knowledge production: Development driven higher education in South Africa’, Higher Education 51 (2): 159–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. (2003) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Virginia Tech School of Education, the Virginia Tech Graduate School, and the Don G. Creamer Fund for Excellence for their generous support of this research. The ‘Activity Structure of Policy Entrepreneurship’ presented in this paper was done so with the permission of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 33rd Annual Eastern Educational Research Association Conference in Savannah, Georgia, USA, 2010.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Leadership, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hills Road, 3085 Education Hall, Glassboro, 08028, New Jersey, USA

    Ane Turner Johnson

  2. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Virginia Tech, 307 E. Eggleston Hall, Blacksburg, 24061, Virginia, USA

    Joan B Hirt

  3. Association of African Universities, P.O. Box AN5744, Accra-North, Ghana

    Pascal Hoba

Authors
  1. Ane Turner Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joan B Hirt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pascal Hoba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Johnson, A., Hirt, J. & Hoba, P. Higher Education, Policy Networks, and Policy Entrepreneurship in Africa: The Case of the Association of African Universities. High Educ Policy 24, 85–102 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2010.26

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2010.26

Keywords

Search

Navigation