Aligning policy ideas and power: the roots of the competitiveness frame in European education policy. Issue 4 (1st October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cino Pagliarello, Marina
• Is Part Of: Comparative education. Number 56:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 441
• Page End: 458
• Publication Date: 2020-10-01
• Subjects: Policy entrepreneurs -- ideas -- agenda-setting -- European education policy -- policy change; 政策企业家 -- 理念 -- 议程设置 -- 欧洲教育政策 -- 政策变化; Education -- Periodicals; Comparative education -- Periodicals; 370.9
• DOI: 10.1080/03050068.2020.1769927
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-0068

Abstract

ABSTRACT: How and why do some ideas attain agenda status while others do not? This paper seeks to explore these questions in the context of the policy changes observed in European education policy. By drawing from the literature on agenda-setting and employing process tracing, the paper develops a theoretical argument to investigate the causal mechanisms through which a new problem definition is set. The central argument is that three factors affect how a problem definition wins over another: (i) the presence of a policy entrepreneur; (ii) the ability to construct a convincing narrative to support a particular interpretation of a problem; and (iii) the specific zeitgeist of a given period, namely the social and political context within which ideas gain ground. The paper contributes to the literature on European education policy by examining how ideas about education emerged. It also contributes to the theoretical debate on agenda setting studies.