Claire Dupuy

Vernacular Globalisations: Neo-Statist Accountability Policies in France and Quebec Education.

Abstract The article argues that there is no single globalisation of education systems, but rather multiple globalisations of each system taken in its individual context. We propose three explanatory factors to account for these vernacular globalisation processes, that is, for individual policy trajectories in each national context: path dependence on earlier policy choices and institutions, education policy-making through bricolage, and finally the translation by national actors of international-level ideas or tools as a function of the debate, institutions or national power dynamics in question. The research design is based on the study of a most-likely case: accountability policy in two school systems – France and Quebec – which show strong variations. Document analyses and semi-structured interviews were conducted in both cases. In the two countries, distinct vernacular globalisations are at work leading to different neo-statist accountability policies. In Quebec, the reinforcement of state power through a growing vertical accountability and the systematic development of regulation tools between policy actors and levels lead to a ‘centralisation by institutional linkage’. In France, we rather witness a ‘globalisation by discursive internalisation’ in which transnational imperatives are integrated in official discourses on the regulation of the education system, but without radically questioning the mainstays of this regulation.

Actively Cultivating Policy Similarity. A Regional Strategy in Education Policy in France and Germany

Abstract Regionalization processes across Western Europe have triggered analyses of regional policy divergence. Yet, in a number of cases, regional governments appear to have deliberately strived to achieve policy conformity. Previous research tends to emphasize exogenous explanations of regional policy convergence. In contrast, this paper addresses the issue of regional policy convergence by focusing on endogenous explanatory factors. Its objective is to carry out an investigation of when, how, and with what effect a ‘desire for conformity’ arises, and contends that regional governments may actively cultivate policy similarity as a strategy to develop or secure their policy capacity. Specifically, the paper argues that the adoption of this strategy is contingent upon two requirements that may or may not be met, and that its outcome is the convergence on targeted dimensions of regional policies. The two requirements are: (i) a countrywide public preference for policy uniformity in the policy area of concern, and (ii) the presence of a threat posed to regional policy capacity by various political entrepreneurs, including the central state, who blame regions for providing divergent policies on particular dimensions. This paper is based on the comparison of two case studies where regional governments deliberately pursued policy conformity on targeted dimensions of their education policy: school-building policy in France and curricula policy in Germany. The two case studies also present dissimilar features that make it possible to investigate the effects of institutional setting and policy distribution on the adoption and operation of the active-cultivation-of-policy-similarity strategy.

Social policy, legitimation and diverging regional paths in Belgium: Policy Feedback, Participation, Voting, and Attitudes

Do regional governments gain legitimation from their social policy? Does regional social policy exert an effect that feeds citizens’ preferences for the regional level of government? The issue of the feedback effect of regional social policy arises in a context where, over the last three decades, regional governments across Europe were entrusted with core social policy responsibilities in health care, education, labour policy and social assistance (e.g. McEwen and Moreno, 2005). Examining such feedback effects contributes to the analysis of democracy at the regional level (e.g. Loughlin, Hendriks and Lidstrom, 2010). The article addresses the legitimation effects of regional social policy by investigating the case of Belgium, more specifically, the two regional cases of Flanders and Wallonia. These cases provide something akin to a natural experiment, as the federalization of the country occurred concurrently to the development of diverging regional paths from what were once close starting points, that is, long-term convergence between Flanders and Wallonia existed until 1993. After this date, however, citizens in Flanders have increasingly shown both a preference for the regional level of government and a stronger identification with the region. Wallonia experienced opposite patterns: From 1993 on, citizens have expressed less support for the regional level and a decreased regional identification. The overall picture emerging from our analyses is one of long-run convergence between Flanders and Wallonia up to 1993, and divergence thereafter. To account for these contrasting evolutionary patterns, we contend that legitimation effects through regional social policy-making cannot be taken for granted. Specifically, this chapter argues that legitimation effects are dependent on three requirements that may or may not be met: First, regional social policy design must be distinct, standing out from previous policies; second, regional policies need to be supported by a public discourse; and, third, policies need to perform well and build performance satisfaction among citizens. In fact, there are strong differences regarding the three proposed requirements in Flanders and Wallonia. While each is fulfilled in the Flemish side of the country, none of them is in the French-speaking part. Simultaneously, we find contrasted systems of citizen evaluation and perception of regional governments in the two regions. The remainder of the chapter is organized as follows. The first section provides historical insights into government use of social policy as a legitimation instrument and elaborates on the theoretical argument we make. The second section presents the chapter’s methodology and data, and explains the choice of Belgium as a natural-like case study. The third section is dedicated to the empirical analysis. Following the presentation of the dependent variable, we report on whether the three requirements are fulfilled in the two Belgian regions. The fourth concluding section discusses the results and the possibility and difficulties to infer the operation of policy feedbacks from the empirics in the present cases.