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52. Universities, the State and the Market: Changing Patterns of University Governance in Sweden and Beyond
- Author:
- Lars Engwall
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Abstract:
- This paper analyses changes in the governance of universities as a result of growing demands from society as well as of a strong penetration of management ideology into all kinds of institutions. For this purpose the paper uses a theoretical framework focusing on two governance mechanisms in social systems: entry control and performance control. These belong to a larger set of homogenising forces, which the new institutionalists label as (1) coercive, (2) normative and (3) mimetic. Using this theoretical framework to analyse the development of Swedish universities, the author concludes that their governance has undergone a considerable change. Coercive forces that were previously exercised through detailed budgeting have, in recent years, been operating through representation in leading bodies and through the selection of university leaders. This has occurred through a crowding out of normative forces. At the same time there have been strong mimetic forces based on modern management ideas.
- Topic:
- Education, Governance, Higher Education, and Management
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Sweden, and Scandinavia
53. The Open Method of Coordination as practice - A watershed in European education policy?
- Author:
- Åse Gornitzka
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- This paper asks whether the application of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) represents a fundamental change in how cooperation takes place within education as a policy area at the European level. Based on a case study of a process that eventually would lead to the “Education and Training 2010” programme of the EU, the paper analyses how the OMC was turned into practice in European education policy. It argues that with the introduction of the OMC a new political space was created in this policy domain. The paper analyses the practices of the OMC in terms of the actors and roles that have been activated at the European level, the role of OMC education in a larger order, and its operative dynamics. The different elements of OMC show varying degrees of institutionalisation. Parts of this process have been experimental, especially as a venue of policy learning and peer reviewing. On the other hand the attention and agenda of EU institutions involved in education policy have been coordinated over time through the routines established around the goals and objectives of the OMC process. The use and development of indicators have also become well established as one of the main components of European cooperation in this field.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, and Education
- Political Geography:
- Europe
54. Higher Education as a Form of European Integration: How Novel is the Bologna Process?
- Author:
- Anne Corbett
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Research Papers Archive
- Abstract:
- This paper argues that at a time in which higher education has become central to the concerns of EU institutions as well as national governments, it is helpful to understand current policy initiatives - both the spin offs from the EU's Lisbon strategy and the intergovernmental Bologna Process – in the comparative terms of the dynamics of policy-making. Drawing on institutionalist frameworks biased towards process (Kingdon 1984, March and Olsen 1989, Barzelay 2003) and comparative historical analysis, it presents policy initiatives from the period 1955-87, including the supranational European University proposal and the Erasmus programme, as both historical events, and theorised configurations of agenda setting, alternative specification, and choice. It suggests that such a framework can be helpful to both those interested primarily in European integration and those whose interests lie in the dynamics of higher education policy-making in a multi-level setting.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Lisbon
55. Children and Small Arms Resource Guide - Public Health Approaches
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons
- Abstract:
- In March 2006 SEESAC commissioned an Education Consultant to determine the need for a school curriculum on small arms throughout the Western Balkan countries through consultation with relevant stakeholders, a review of available literature on the subject of small arms, children and youth, and examination of evaluation reports from previous risk education projects conducted in South Eastern Europe (SEE). This report is one of a series of publications on this issue.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Civil Society, Education, and Human Welfare
- Political Geography:
- Europe
56. Special Education and the Risk of Becoming Less Educated in Germany and the United States
- Author:
- Justin J.W. Powell
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Over the twentieth century, a growing group of students has been transferred into considerably expanded special education systems. These programs serve children with diagnosed impairments and disabilities and students with a variety of learning difficulties. Children and youth “with special educational needs” constitute a heterogeneous group with social, ethnic, linguistic, and physical disadvantages. An increasingly large percentage of those students at risk of leaving school without credentials participate in special education, a highly legitimated low status (and stigmatizing) school form. While most countries commit themselves to school integration or inclusive education to replace segregated schools and separate classes, cross-national and regional comparisons of special education's diverse student bodies show considerable disparities in their (1) rates of classification, (2) provided learning opportunities, and (3) educational attainments. Analyzing special education demographics and organizational structures indicates which children and youth are most likely to grow up less educated and how educational systems distribute educational success and failure. Findings from a German-American comparison show that which students bear the greatest risk of becoming less educated depends largely on definitions of “special educational needs” and the institutionalization of special education systems.
- Topic:
- Development and Education
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, and Germany
57. Police and Gendarmerie Reform in Belgium: from Force to Service
- Author:
- Denis Bergmans
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- It is for me, as a representative of the Gendar merie, the Belgian federal police, a great honour to be invited as a speaker for this seminar.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, and Education
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Belgium
58. Party Competition in Post-Communist Europe: The Great Electoral Lottery
- Author:
- Abby Innes
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This article suggests that the academic emphasis on rational choice and political-sociological approaches to party development has led to a misleading impression of convergence with Western patterns of programmatic competition and growing partisan identification in the Central European party political scene. As an alternative thesis, the author argues that the very character of 'transition' politics in Eastern Europe and the necessarily self-referential nature of the parliamentary game has structured party systems in those countries, and that the differences between the party systems in this region are critically related to experiences under communism (–a political-historical explanation). The paper argues that, in order to cope with a practical lack of public policy options in major areas such as the economy, parties have had little choice but to compete over operating 'styles,' rather than over substantive (ideologically based) programmatic alternatives. The development of parties incumbent in government since 1989 may be compared to the development of catch-all parties in Western Europe in terms of the competitive logic of weakening/avoiding ideological positions in order to embrace a large constituency. However, successful parties in Eastern Europe lack the 'baggage' of an ideological past and the history of mass membership and a class or denominational clientele – their defining characteristic is that they try to appeal to all of the people all of the time.
- Topic:
- Education, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Eastern Europe
59. Secure Borders: The European Experience - A Roundtable with Jonathan Faull
- Author:
- Mark R. Shulman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- EastWest Institute
- Abstract:
- The EastWest Institute hosted a roundtable discussion with Jonathan Faull, Director-General, Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) of the European Commission. Mr. Faull discussed various important, innovative and effective initiatives that JHA is pursuing to cultivate security while promoting freedom and justice throughout Europe and its new neighborhood. He also discussed impending changes to the US visa regime and their potential impact on transatlantic trade, educational and cultural exchanges, tour ism and relations generally. Other participants included leading experts and scholars from the media, universities, think tanks, and human rights organizations.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Education, Human Rights, and Culture
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
60. Out of the Glass Niche and into the Swimming Pool: the Transformation of the Sirena figure in Concha Méndez's Surtidor: Poesías
- Author:
- Nicole Altamirano
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies
- Abstract:
- The present study is an exploration of revisionist mythmaking in Concha Méndez's Surtidor: poesías (1928), specifically of the Generation of 27 poet's appropriation and inscription of the androcentric myth of the siren/mermaid into female discourse, as seen through three poems: "Nadadora," "Natación," and "Bar". Through an analysis of these poems I show that Méndez dismantles the conventional "sirena" figure and revises her to suit a modern woman. In her appropriation of the "sirena," Méndez replaces the antiquated siren/ mermaid of masculine hegemonic discourse with an athletic, capable, and liberated water woman who decides her own destiny. In presenting a woman who frees herself from the restrictions of male subjectivity, Concha Méndez proposes an alternative model for female iconography—a siren singing a song rarely listened to, a song of feminine freedom and self-determination that would set the poet apart from her contemporaries for many years.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Education, and Gender Issues
- Political Geography:
- Europe