The concept of field forms the centre of Pierre Bourdieu's relational sociology and the notion of "autonomy" is its keystone. This article explores the usefulness of these underexamined concepts for studying policy in higher education. It begins by showing how Bourdieu's "field" approach enables higher education to be examined…

Noting the emerging global policyscape toward creating global information networks, this article analyzes policymaking across Europe, the United States, and East Asia. Employing a political-economy perspective, it compares seven countries' networks, highlighting the state's role and varying relationships among education, economy, and society, and…

Educational expansion is the result of an intricate interplay between individual expectations and characteristics of the educational subsystem. Using systems theory, this article presents figures on educational participation in Belgium. Educational policy cannot steer or control educational expansion. The system can only react autonomously.…

Rational choice theory and its three branches (game theory, collective choice theory, and organizational economics) has altered the face of political science, sociology, and organizational theory. This chapter reviews rational choice theory, examines a small body of work that relies on the rational choice paradigm to study educational politics,…

Educational reforms and legislative initiatives in Australia and internationally during the late 1980s imposed new political solutions for problems experienced in educational settings. This paper explores the significance of education to politics, through a brief history and reference to comparative studies. The radical conservatism of the 1990s…

Explores reorganization of secondary education in a small British town. Conceptualizes six headteachers and the education director as social players engaged in seven transactional game situations during reorganization, showing how political changes that transformed the public-sector education provision also created conditions conducive to…

In Canada, the United States, and England, educational policies favoring greater parental choice have renewed interest in religion's place in public schools; conversely, religious parents' lobbying for school choice has influenced educational policy. This paper explores change dynamics in Alberta, Canada, focusing on micropolitical program and…

Outlines developmental stages and pendulum pattern of educational policy in People's Republic of China, employing a political influence framework. Attributes pendulum pattern to ups and downs of the radical and the moderate group. Each has its own background, goals, resources, and strategies. The radicals are egalitarian but anti-intellectual; the…

Due to massive reform initiatives, American states have become major policy makers for public schools. Examines, from a state and a political-influence perspective, the causes, processes, and consequences of the decade-long "education excellence" movement. Places events in historical context, draws upon research findings, and applies an…

Argues against the juggernaut view of globalization, suggesting that much depends on how we engage with global forces to mitigate their worst consequences and use them to advantage. Views democratic nation-building, informed by education, as pivotal to the engagement process. Locally, educators must retrieve the "public" in public…

As this yearbook shows, linking schools and social services has become a nationwide and international movement. To provide a discussion framework, this article outlines organizational, economic, and political issues and discusses two important themes--the necessity of clearly defining the ethos supporting school/social services linkages and the…

Globalization, referring to the formation of world systems, embraces finance and trade; communications and information technologies; migration and tourism; global societies; linguistic, cultural, and ideological convergence; and signs and images. Globalization does not negate the nation-state, but it changes its circumstances and makes education…

Skill is a social construct that assumes different meanings in particular historical circumstances. This paper explains how the dominant concept of skill has shifted in twentieth-century Australia from being job- and content-specific to a more generic view (embracing cognitive, technical, and operational, social, and affective skills) that…

Examines how divergent values and belief systems operate within educational politics. Reviews five questions (concerning educational quality and equality, schooling's purpose, curriculum decisions, school policy making, and financial responsibility for schools) and their underlying value tensions within the research areas of micropolitics, school…

This special issue journal on the politics of urban education contains the following articles: (1) "The Politics of Urban Education as a Field of Study: An Interpretive Analysis" (K. K. Wong); (2) "Urban Education as a Field of Study: Problems of Knowledge and Power" (J. G. Cibulka); (3) "Knowledge and Power in Research into the Politics of Urban…