Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper analyzes the politics of higher education policy in advanced industrial states, examining both partisan preferences over spending and three different institutional forms of higher education provision: the Anglo-American, Continental, and Scandinavian models. The paper applies the well-known ‘trilemma’ framework developed by Iversen and Wren (1998) to the area of higher education policy. I demonstrate that the logic of the trilemma can be extended to a three-way trade-off between the extent of coverage, the degree of subsidization, and the overall cost of higher education. The Anglo-American model leads to a mass, partially private, and publicly inexpensive system. The Continental model leads to an elite, fully public, and inexpensive system. Finally, the Scandinavian model leads to a mass, fully public, but highly expensive system. This set of choices facing both governments and voters is modeled formally and the derived trade-offs tested on a panel dataset of OECD states from 1990 to 2000. Three case studies, of the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany are then analyzed in greater detail to show the dynamic partisan trade-offs facing states as they expand higher education. The paper concludes by offering some suggestions about the long-term impact of these decisions on the likely success of newly-elected Continental right wing parties in achieving their education and labor market goals.