Date of Award
8-1997
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Dr. Gunther Hega
Second Advisor
Dr. Jim Butterfield
Third Advisor
Neil Pinney
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This thesis examines French education policy in response to European Union (EU) initiatives since the 1970's. It demonstrates that policy-making at the EU and national level have both supported decentralization, i.e. supranational and national policies encourage more regional development and local decision-making. A new model, termed "Europeanization," accounts for the new regionalism and multi-level governance in the EU. The three hypotheses tested in this thesis claim that if French higher education is becoming europeanized, then the number of actors involved in policy-making will increase, funding for higher education will become more diversified, and participation rates of regional universities will grow.
The evidence derived from a longitudinal case study of France suggests that French higher education since the 1980's involves an increased number of actors, an expansion of regional funding, and growing regional and local participation in EU programs. From a theoretical perspective, this thesis builds on intergration theories like transactionalism and neo-functionalism, but shifts the focus to more regional autonomy and local decision-making in the process of integrating education policies in Europe.
Recommended Citation
Wegener, Kara P., "From Socrates to Leonardo: Integrating Education in the European Union" (1997). Masters Theses. 3470.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3470