In the eyes of policy, the transformation of European education systems has become essential. Economically, education change is deemed vital to the successful emergence of knowledge economies. Politically, educational institutions and their cultures are seen as unhelpfully residual, providing a home to beliefs and practices that are not aligned…

A discussion of the changing relationship between the state and higher education in nine industrialized countries looks at conflicting requirements for institutional accountability, different models for the relationship; politics and governance; the developing role of central intermediary agencies; changing perspectives of student protest; and the…