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T e r t ia r y E d u c a t i o n a n d M a n a g e m e n t , V o l. 3, N o . 3 , 1 9 9 7 , 1 9 9 - 2 1 0

From Part ic ipat ion To Competi t ion:C h a n g e s in t h e N o t i o no f D ecentra liza tion in Sw edishHigher Educat ional Pol icy

B er i t A sk l i n g and E dga r A lm (n

I n t r o d u c t i o n

During the late 1980s and the early 1990s,

nat ional reforms of higher educat ion systems

we re launch ed in man y European countries, aim-

ing at improving qual i ty and eff iciency By the

use of surprisingly similar strategies, extensive

redistribution of authority was carried out in

terms o f decentralization, dereg ulation and in-

creased ins t i tu t ional autonomy (Kogan 1988;

Maassen an d van Vught 1994). Oth er t rends in

com mo n are the focus on qual i ty and eff iciency

and enterprise, an d the search for procedures ofevaluation and accountabili ty, implyin g a devel-

opment of the 'new Evaluat ive State ' (Neave

1988).

In Sw eden, in successive steps since the 1970s,

state regulations have decreased on all levels in

the public sector, not just in the educational

system and not just in higher education. In the

comprehensive school the profess ional ism of

teachers is now considered an im portant s teering

factor for equivalence a nd qu ality. In hig her

education, academic freedom is referred to as a

guarantee for quality. In the official rhetoric of

educa tional policy, the conc ept 'decentralization'

has played a predominant role. Irrespective of

polit ical colour, successive governments have

launched further s teps towards decentral izat ion

in the educat ional system by using such wo rds o f

ho no ur as 'freedom ' and 'responsibili ty'.

In this paper, we scrut inize the Swedish gov-

ernmen tal decentral ization pol icy on h ighe r edu-

cation. A distinction is m ade betw een tw o waves

of dece ntral izat ion pol icy, the o ne manifes ted in

the h igher educa t ion re fo rm of 1977 , and the

other in the higher educat ion reform of 1993.

By com paring some crucial aspects of the pol icy

o f the 1970s w i th s imilar aspects at the b egin-

ning o f the 1990s, the und erlying assumptions

behind the decentralizat ion pol icy are examined

and compared.

A F r a me w o r k f o r S t u d y i n g D e c e n t ra l iT a t i on

In spite o f considerable difficulties in ag reein g on

what is actually meant in practice when the

concep t 'decentralizat ion ' i s used, the not ion of

decentralization seems to command a great deal

of attention in countries that have a centralist

structure o f governance (Weiler 1990).

I T h i s a rt ic le s b a s e d o n a p a pe r , h i c h w a s p r e s e n t e d a t t h e 1 5 t h E A I R F o r u m , A u g u s t 1 9 9 3 , i n T ur k n , F in l a n d.

ProfessorBerit Asklin~ until reccnt~ Pro Rector at Link@ ing Univcrst'~y, s Prof~sor of Ed ucaion in the Departm aff of Educational

Research a t G tt eborg Un ivers~ , Swed ~ ] ' el + 4631 7732443. Fax + 4 65I 7732462. Emai l: B~ i t A s k l i n g @ ~ s ~

Dr E dgar Alm tn is A. ~ta nt Professor n Dim'ni~.y , D ep an m ~ of Tbemt , L ink@in$ Universi ty , as abo ~ Tel: +4 6 13 28 24 95.

Fax: +4 6 13 28 18 43. Emai l : edgal@trmLlia .s~

1 9 9



200 B E tL IT A S K L I N G A N D E D G A R A L M I~ N

W i t h r e g a r d t o h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n s y s t e m s , su c h

c o n c e p t s a s d e r e g u l a t i o n , d e m o c r a t i z a t i o n , a n d

d e c o n c e n t r a t i o n a r e s o m e t i m e s u s e d a l m o s t a s

s y n o n y m s f o r d e c e n t r a l i z a ti o n w h e n r e f e re n c e s

a r e m a d e t o c h a n g e s i n r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n

c e n t r a l a u th o r i t i e s , i n s t i tu t io n s a n d in d iv id u a l

academics. A p p a r e n t l y , t h e r e a r e m a n y a s p e c t s t o

t a k e in t o a c c o u n t w h e n u s i n g t h e c o n c e p t d e c e n -

t r a l i z a t io n .

O v e r t h e y e a r s , t h e p o l i t i c a l a s p e c t s h a v e a t -

t r a c te d m o s t a t t e n t i o n a s t h e y - i n a v e r y p r o -

f o u n d w a y - c h a n g e t h e r e l a t iv e i n f l u e n c e o f

g o v e r n m e n t s , t h e r e la t i v e a u t h o r i ty o f i n s t i t u t io n s

a n d t h e p r o f e ss i o n a l a u t o n o m y o f a c a d em i c s

( K o g a n 1 9 8 8 ; T e i c h l e r 1 9 8 8 ; v a n V u g h t 1 9 8 8 ;

1 9 8 9 ) .

I n t h i s p a p e r, w e i d e n t i f y fi v e as p e c t s o f d e c e n -

t r al i z a ti o n t o b e u s e d i n o u r a n a l y si s o f t h e t w o

S w e d i s h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n r e f o r m s .

f. Decentralization as a Geooorapbical

Dism'buu'on (Th e Centre-PeripheryAspect)

A c o m m o n d e f i n i t i o n o f d e c e n t r a l i z a ti o n i m p l i e s

a m o v e m e n t a w a y f r o m t h e c e n t r e t o t h e p e r i ph -

e ry , in d ic a t in g a g e o g r a p h ic a l d i s p e r s io n o f r e -

s o u r c e s , o r th e e s t a b l i s h me n t o f in s t i tu t io n s , e t c .

Z Decentralizau'on as a VerticalMovementD e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n c a n a l s o r e f e r t o a p o l i t i c a l

t r a n sm i s s i o n o r d e v o l v i n g o f a u t h o r i t y f r o m t h e

t o p d o w n w a r d s i n a h i e r a r c h i c a l l y s t r u c t u r e d

s y s t e m o r o r g a n i z a t i o n . T h i s a s p e c t o f d e c e n t r a li -

z a t i o n c o n c e r n s t h e v e r t i c a l d e v o l v i n g f r o m t h e

c e n t r e a n d t h e s u b s e q u e n t r e s t r u c t u ri n g o f r o le s ,

r e l a t io n s h ip s a n d r e s p o n s ib i l i t i e s b e twe e n c e n t r a l

a n d l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e g

3. Decentralizau'on as a Dispersion o f Influence

A m o n g A c to r s

A n o t h e r a s p e c t o f d e c e n tr a l i z at i o n c o n c e r n s t h er e la t iv e i n f l u e n c e o f a c to r s. T r o w p r o v i d e d a v i e w

o f t h e A m e r ic a n h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n s y s t e m a s b e -

i n g m a r k e t - o r i e n t e d a n d c o n s u m e r - d i r e c t e d i n a

w a y t h a t w a s u n l i k e m a n y E u r o p e a n u n i v e r s i ti e s

w i t h t h e i r s t a t e a u t h o r i t i e s a n d s t r o n g a c a d e m i c

g u i l d s ( T r o w 1 9 8 8 ) . B y s u c h c o n c e p t s a s ' p r o -

d u c e r ' , ' b u y e r ' a n d ' c o n s u m e r ' , T r o w r e m i n d s u s

o f th e i m p o r t a n c e o f t a k i n g a 'h o r i zo n t a l ' d i m e n -

s i o n a n d n o t j u s t t h e v e r t i c a l o n e i n t o a c c o u n t

w h e n p o t e n t i a l so u r c e s o f i n f l u e n c e a r e t o b e

i d e n t if i ed . C l a r k i d e n t i f i e d t h r e e a r e a s o f a u t h o r -

i t, /, o r a r ea s o f n e g o t i a t i o n , i n h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n .

I n h i s t r ia n g l e o f c o - o r d i n a t i o n h e i d e n t i f i e d

t h e m a s s t a t e au t h o r it y , a c a d e m i c o l i g a r c h y a n d

t h e m a r k e t ( C l a r k 1 9 8 3 ) , w h i c h a l s o m e a n s t h a t

h e i d e n t i f ie s a c t o r s w i t h v a r i o u s i n te r e s ts . B e c h e r

a n d K o g a n h av e e x p a n d e d t h e t r ia n g l e i n t o a

q u a d r il a t er a l b y i n c o r p o r a t i n g t h e p u b l i c / s o c i a l

u s e f u ln e s s t o t h e g o v e r n m e n t a l , p r o f e s s i o n a l a n d

m a r k e t . (B e c h e r a n d K o g a n 1 9 9 2 ) . T h u s , i t i s n o t

g i v e n b y t h e d e f i n it i o n o f d e c e n tr a li z a t io n w h o s e

s p a c e o f a c t io n w i l l b e i n c r ea s e d . T h e r e l at i v e

i n f l u e n c e c a n i n c r e a s e a m o n g t h e a c a d e m i c s

t h e m s e l v e s ( i nt e rn a l a c t o rs ) o r a m o n g p o l i t i ci a n s ,

o r r e p r e s e n ta t i ve s f r o m v o c a t i o n a l f i e l d s o r s o c i -

e ty in g e n e r a l ( e x te r n a l a c to r s ) . S tu d e n t s f o r m, in

t h i s r es p e c t, a c o m b i n a t i o n o f e x t e r n a l a n d i n t e r -

na l ac tor s .

4. Decentralizalion as a C hange in the Relative

Bal , mce o f P m a c~ e and Re troac tive . .g tev'ing

A s h a s b e e n e v i d e n t i n r e c e n t y e a r s i n m a n y

h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m s , d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n i s

o f t e n f o ll o w e d , o p e n l y o r m o r e c o n c e a l e d , b y a n

in c r e a s e in e v a lu a t io n a c t iv i t i e s , I n f lu e n c e th a t i s

n o t e x e r t e d p r i o r t o a n a c t i v i t y ( i n t e r m s o f

g o v e r n a n c e a n d s t e e r i n g b y p l a n s , p r e s c r i p t io n s ,r u le s , r e g u la t io n s ) c a n b e e x e r t e d a f t e r wa r d s ( in

t e r m s o f as s e ss m e n t o r e v a l u a t i o n ) o r s i m u l t a n e -

o u s ly (s u c h a s in s p e c t io n ) ( W e s te r h e i jd e n e t a L

1 9 9 4 ) . F ro m t h e p e r s pe c t iv e o f s t a f f a n d i n d i v i d -

u a l t e a c h e r s , a d e c e n t r a l i z e d i n f l u e n c e m a y b e

p e r c e i v e d v e r y d i f f e r e n t l y a c c o r d i n g t o i t s t e m -

p o r a l a p p e a r a n c e . W h e n e x a m i n i n g a d e c e n t r a l i -

z a t i o n p o l i cy , w e h a v e t o p a y a t t e n t i o n t o t h e

r e la t i ve s t re n g t h o f t h e p r o a c t i v e a n d r e t r o a c t iv e

inf luences .

5. The F o ~ (Inue) o f the Decentrali~_._d

A u tbor i~

F i n a ll y ' a n e x a m i n a t i o n o f d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n

m o v e m e n t s m u s t a l so p a y a t t e n ti o n t o w h a t k i n d

o f i s s u e s a r e i n f o c u s f o r t h e g o v e r n a n c e o r

c o n t r o l , a n d t h i n h o w f a r - r e a c h i n g a n d i n f l u e n -

t i a l a n d d e m a n d i n g t h e d e c e n t r a l i z e d d e c i s i o n -

m a k i n g p o w e r w i l l b e . T h e i m p l i c a t io n s o f a

d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n p o l i c y c a n b e r e s t r i c t e d t o o n e

k i n d o f i ss u e a n d e n s u r e a r e s t ri c t e d i n f l u e n c e o r



F R O M P A R T IC I PA T I O N T O C O M P E T I T I O N 201

affect m an y issues in the organization, and thus

also make room for a more extensive and far-

reaching a uthori~ . In the fol low ing section,some main fea tu res o f the tw o w aves o f decen-

tralization policy, manifested in th e reforms of

1977 and 1993, w il l be examined by use of these

five aspects o f decentralization.

T re n d s i n t h e F i rs t W a v e o f R e fo rm s - In t h e

1 9 7 0 s

In Sweden, there is a long t radi t ion o f close

relations between the state (and the public) and

education. Since their foundation, Swedish uni-

versities were given the responsibility for training

almost all kinds o fh igh er civil servants in accord-

ance with a strict examination system, which

reflected th e dem ands on the state and its schools,

church an d judicial system. Thus, the universities

were s tate-governed but with respect paid to the

integri ty and au tonom y of the professors.

In this governance model, which lasted more

or less expl ici t ly t il l the middle o f th is century,

centralization on the national level wa s com bined

with a lo w level of inst itu tional auton om y and an

internal academ ic governance, in the form o f a

collegial model focusing on the full professors(Lane 1990). S tate regulat ion o f the system was

looked up on as a guarantee of equivalence in

standards (in mode rn terms a kind o f quality

control).

W hen in the 1960s , Sweden , l ike many o ther

countries, was faced with a rapid increase in

student enrolments , the government reacted by

taking measures in accordance with the rational

planning m odel (van Vught 1988 ). In the Sw ed-

ish context, this could be seen as a continuation

of an alread y well-es tabl ished mo del o f govern-

a n c e .

In order to cope with the rapid expansion, a

s y s te m o f v o c a t i o n a ll y o r i e n t e d s t u d y p ro -

grammes - grouped in sectors and corresponding

to sectors of the labour market - w as initiated by

the government and prepared by the nat ional

board (the in termediary body ). This system cov-

ered al l undergraduate educat ion and corre-

spond ed to the requirements for posi t ions mainly

in the pu blic sector, such as subject teachers ( the

so called UKAS-reform).

When the idea o f decen tra l iza t ion was in t ro -

duced into the pol it ical d ebate in Sw eden in the

midd le o f the 1970s , i t was l aunched wi th many

posit ive arguments and c onsidered a construct ive

al ternat ive to the more or less negat ively per-

ceived central ism, wh ich had reached i ts peak in

the educat ional system in the 1960s.

As part of a poli tical pro gramm e, de central iza-

t ion was fi rs t adopted by the Liberal, Centre a nd

Conservative Parties, wh ile it w as resisted b y the

Socia l Democra t s . Th is l as t par ty , however ,

changed i ts opinions when decentral izat ion was

considered to be in l ine with the on goin g dem oc-

ratizat ion of society , by reducing the influencefrom the top and by giving a more equal d is tr i -

bu t ion o f oppor tun i t ies fo r exer t ing in f luence to

different levels in an organization.

By i ts al lowa nce fo r local f lexibi l i ty and crea-

tivity, decentralization cou ld also be arg ued fo r

in terms of efficiency and rational planning, and

thus be supporte d by the Social Dem ocrat ic Party

as in line with their long t radi t ion ofsu cieta l and

labour market p lanning. Almo st the sam e kind of

arguments that had been used in the 1950s for

the in troduct ion o f a more central is t governance

were 30 years later used as argum ents fo r decen-tralization.

After an almost ten-year period of preparat ion

and pol i t ical negotiat ion, the 1977 higher edu-

cat ion reform w as set in m otion. In th is reform,

the concep t decentralizationplayed a significant

role.

Th e D e c e n t r a l iz a t i o n P o l i c y o f t h e 1 9 7 0 s

t . The Ce n t rr-P e r ipbe ry A sp e c t

The s tuden t expans ion in the 19 60s and 1970s

was met by an increase in the n um ber o f insti tu-tions. Two new universities were established,

mainly argued for as part of an in tensified re-

gional pol icy. Teacher t raining col leges we re ex-

tended and reorganized as regional col leges . On e

impor tan t pu rpose o f the re fo rm in 1977 was

also to redu ce the social stratification in students '

enrolment in further educat ion. Great efforts

were made to create a unified system by bringing



2 0 2 B ER IT A S K LIN G A N D ED G A R A LM I~N

together such inst i tu t ions and educat ional pro-

g rammes as had p rev ious ly been admin is te red

separately

An integrat ion of al l post-secondary inst i tu-

t ions within a unified system was designed to

facil itate rational p lanning of h igher educat ion

opportuni t ies and also to reduce the differences

in status an d pre st ige betw een tradi t ional univer-

s i ty p rogrammes and non-academic voca t iona l

training. Evidently, this unifo rmity concea led a

wide variat ion of insti tu t ions, groups o f s tudents ,

programmes, courses and also a very uneven

dis tr ibut ion o f research resources . This geo-

graphical d is tr ibut ion o f educat ional opportun i-

t ies by expand ing the sys tem was a rgued fo r in

terms o f decentralization.

2 . The Vem'c~ Tr ,msm/m'on

Th e vertical transmission o f influence fro m the

nat ional level to local bo dies was launched as a

predominant issue in the reform. The influence

concerned m ain ly the p lann ing o f underg raduate

programmes. Genera l s tudy plans were prepared

and laid do w n by the nat ional b oard. The y mani-

fes ted a central go vernance w hich circumvented

the un ivers i ty and facu l ty boards and were d i -

rec ted towards the newly c rea ted loca l p ro -

g ramme commit tees and the p rogramme s tudydirectors . The facul ty boards concentrated their

efforts on research matters and on graduate ed u-

cat ion, fo r which academ ic criteria s t il l predom i-

nated. W ith such a d ifferent iat ion of governance,

the inst itu t ional administrat ion of the univers i ty

was main ly focused on purely administrat ive and

legislative matters.

Al though the genera l s tudy p lans a llowed fo r

local influence on the design and conten t of the

programmes and the courses , the decentral iza-

t ion po l icy o f the 1970s d id no t mean tha t the

centre gave up i ts s teering o f h igher educat ion.

Wi th re fe rence to the impor tance o f a na t ionwide

equivalence of f inal grades from undergraduate

p rogrammes , and to the no t ion o f equa l ity o f

s tudy opportun i t ies i rrespect ive of where s tudies

were undertaken, the m odel of central s teering

was in ma ny respects kept in tact. T he dis tr ibut ion

of resources to in s t i tu t ions and s tud y p ro -

grammes, the num ber o f s tudy places , the admis-

sion (the humerus claususprinciple was applied to

al l programmes) and th e overall s t ructure o f the

programm es w ere s t il l central ly regulated. Issues

concern ing the econom ic and s tructural frame-

wo rk were managed cen tral ly and thus und er the

full control of the government, parl iament or the

national board.

3 . T b e D i s t ri b u t io n o f ln f l u e n c e to A c l o r s

Decentralization was also t reated as a quest ion o f

influence for new groups inside and outs ide the

system.

Within the system, the traditional a u t h o r / t y o f

the p ro fesso rs as the cha i r ho lders w as reduced

in favour o f rep resen ta tives o f the new g roups o f

lecturers, junior lecturers and assistants. This

could be seen as a measure tow ards dem ocrat iza -t ion o f the work p lace, co r respond ing to meas -

ures taken in the labou r market in general . (The

Co-de termina t ion Act 1976 had a l ready b rou gh t

abou t a more co rpora te d i s t r ibu tion o f in f luences

on dec i s ion -mak ing among s ta f f mem bers in

co rrespondence wi th ongo ing democra t i za t ion

tendencies in the labour market in general) .

However, i t was also said in the reform argu-

mentation, that the reduct ion o f s tate governance

on underg raduate educa t ion was no t mean t ju s t

to imply an increase in influence from the pro-

fess ionals within the system. The increase ininternal influence was to be counterbalanced by

an external representat ion o f public in terests and

from th e vocat ional f ields , another a spect o f the

decentralization process. Local prog ram me com -

mittees, with representatives from the labour

market , teachers and s tudents , got a certain

amoun t o f respons ib il i ty fo r p lann ing under-

graduate s tudies , mainly the pedagogical p lan-

n i n g o f c o n t e n t a n d m e t h o d s . T h e y w e r e

expec ted to pu t fo rward demands f rom the l a -

bou r market and from soc iety at large. This aspect

o f d e c e n t ra l i z a ti o n w a s c o n g ru e n t w i t h t h e

g rowth o f co rpora tiv ism in Sw eden a t tha t t ime

(Pain 1979) .

Thus, in the organizat ion of the 1970s, there

was an inbuil t tension wi th confl ict ing deman ds.

The depar tmen ts were squeezed be tween voca-

t ional ly-oriented and discipl inary-bound points

of reference and one can say that , consequently ,

the pos i t ion o f the depar tmen ts was we akened

(Lane 1990).



F R O M P A R T I C I P A T IO N T O C O M P E T I T IO N 2 0 3

T h i s k i n d o f d e c e n tr a l iz a t i o n w a s p e r c e i v e d b y

m o s t t e a c h e r s i n h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n a s an i n c r e as e

i n b u r e a u c r a c y (A s k l i ng 1 9 8 3 ; L a n e 1 9 8 7 ) . T h er e o r g a n iz a t io n o f s tu d ie s in th e c o u r s e s , th e in -

t r o d u c ti o n o f p l a n n i n g c o m m i t t e e s a n d t h e m a n y

r e f e r e n c e s to th e l a b o u r ma r k e t r e s u l t e d in a

c o n f u s io n a m o n g m a n y t e a c h er s o f w h a t t o i n -

c l u d e i n t h e c o u r s e s, w h a t t o d e m a n d f r o m t h e

s t u d e n t s , a n d h o w t o e x a m i n e , w h e n t h e t r a d i -

t io n a l d i s c ip l in a r y s t r u c tu r e wa s lo o s e n e d .

F o r th e s tu d e n t s , t h e d e c e n t r a l i z e d o r g a n iz a -

t i o n o p e n e d u p o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r p a r t i ci p a t i o n o n

b o a r d s a n d c o m m i t te e s , b u t in a r a t h e r f o r m a l i ze d

w a y a n d , t o th e i r d i s a p p o i n tm e n t , m a i n l y r e -

s t r i c t e d to ' s o f t ' i s s ue s . Be s id e s , th e o r g a n iz a t io n

o f p r o g r a m m e s i n t o c o m p u l s o r y c o u r se s , a n d

c o u r s e s i n t o c o m p u l s o r y l e s so n s a n d t h e p r o d u c -

t i o n o f p o i n t s l i n k e d t o s t u d y g r an t s , m e a n t t h a t

t h e s t u d e n t s w e r e f a c e d w i t h s t u d i e s w i t h f e w

o p t io n s f o r f r e e c h o ic e s . I n a d d i t io n , a n y s u g g e s -

t i o n s a b o u t c h a n g e s i n c o u r s e s o r c u r r i c u l u m

c o u l d e a s i l y b e t u r n e d d o w n b y t h e i n t e r n a l

r e p r e s e n ta t iv e s w i th r e f e r e n c e to th e f i r mn e s s in

t h e s t r u c t u re o f t h e s y s t e m o f p r o g r a m m e s a n d

c o u r s e s a n d b y th e e x te rn a l r e p r e s e n ta t iv e s w i th

r e f e r e n c e t o d e m a n d s f r o m v o c a t i o n a l f i e l d s .

T h u s , a s c o n s u me r s , th e i r p o s i t io n wa s r a th e r

w e a k . ( I t o u g h t , h o w e v e r , t o b e m e n t i o n e d t h a ta s m a l l p r o p o r t i o n o f s tu d e n t s d i d n o t f o l l o w

t h e s e p r o g r a m m e s ' a n d t o o k c o u r s e s o f t h e ir o w n

c h o ic e . )

W i th r e g a r d to th i s a s p e c t o f d e c e n t r a l i z a t io n ,

t h e r e f o r m i m p l i e d a n a b o l i t i o n o f a c a d e m i c

s e l f - g o v e r n a n c e in th e s e n s e th a t p a r t i c ip a n t s o f

v a r i o u s b o a r d s w e r e n o t j u s t t o b e r e c r u i te d f r o m

v a r i o u s k i n d s o f s t a f f b u t , i n a d d i t io n , f r o m e x -

te rna l in te res ts .

4. Proactiveand~ or Retrtw.cE~ ~eering

I n t h e 1 9 7 0 s , d e c e n t r a l iz a t i o n w a s l a u n c h e d a s ad e mo c r a t i c s h i f t f r o m a f o r ma l i s t i c g o a l - r e g u -

l a t ed s t e e r i n g t o o n e o f a m o r e d y n a m i c a n d

p r o g r e s s i v e g o a l - o u t c o m e c o n t r o l n a t u r e . H o w -

e v e r, d u e to th e lo n g t r a d i t io n o f c e n t r a l is t g o v -

e r n a n c e a n d c o n f i d e n c e i n p r e s c r i p t i o n s a n d

r e g u la t io n s , th e r e w a s n o f a mi l i a r i ty w i t h a s s e s s -

m e n t a n d e v a l u a t i o n s t r a t e g i e s o n t h e s y s t e m

l ev el . T h e r e w a s c o n f u si o n a b o u t h o w t o a c c o m -

p l i sh o u t c o m e e v a lu a t i o ns w i t h o u t b e i n g t h e v i c -

t ir o s o f o v e r - me c h a n ic a l a c c o u n ta b i l i ty a c t iv i t i e s .

B e s i d es , t h e r e w a s a ls o c o n f u s i o n a b o u t w h a t

o u t c o m e s t o c o n t r o l.A s a w a y o u t o f th i s d i le m m a , t h e d e v e l o p m e n t

o f lo c a l s e l f - e v a lu a t io n a c t iv i t i e s wa s a d v o c a te d .

T h e l o ca l p ro g r a m m e c o m m i t t ee s w e r e i n t e n d e d

t o g a t h e r d a t a f o r th e i r o w n r e t r o s p e c t iv e a n d

in t r o s p e c t iv e u s e , n o t f o r in te r - in s t i tu t io n a l c o m -

p a r i s o n s a n d n o t f o r a c c o u n t a b i l i t y u s a g e. T h u s ,

o n e c a n s a y t h a t d e c e n tr a l iz a t i o n w a s n o t i m m e -

d i a t e l y f o l l o w e d b y a n y i n c r e as e i n c o n t r o l .

.~ . Focus Top i~ and I ~ )

W i t h i n t h e f i r m s t r u c t u r e , m a n i f e s t e d i n t h e

a b o v e - m e n t i o n e d g e n e ra l s t u d y p l a n s e s t a b l is h e d

b y t h e n a t i o n a l b o a r d , t h e s p a c e o f a c t i o n f o r t h e

d e c e n t r a li z e d a u t h o r i t y w a s m a i n l y r e s tr i c t ed t o

p e d a g o g ic a l p r o c e s s v a r i a b le s , s u c h a s in f lu e n c e

o n t h e s e l ec t io n o f t e x t b o o k s , c o n t e n t a n d m e t h -

o d s i n u n d e r g r a d u a t e t e a c h in g .

K~ Wordso f the 1970s

K e y w o r d s a t t h a t t i m e w e r e p a r t i c i p a t io n , co-op-

erat ion, r e g i o n a l i z a t i o n , s o c i a l / p o l i t i c a l r e l e -

v a n c e , c e n t r a l r a t io n a l p la n n in g a n d n a t io n a l

e q u i v a l e n c e o f w o r t h .

T r e n d s i n t h e S e c o n d W a v e o f R e f o r m . ~ i n

t h e B e g i n n i n g o f t h e 1 9 9 0 s

A t t h e e n d o f th e 1 9 8 0 s ' t h e S o c i a l D e m o c r a t i c

P a r ty a p p a r e n t ly lo s t i t s e a r l i e r b e l i e f in r a t io n a l

p l a n n i n g f o r m e e t i n g l a b o u r m a r k e t d e m a n d s .

T h e v o c a t i o n a l o ri e n t a ti o n o f m a n y h i g h e r e d u -

c a t i o n s t u d y p r o g r a m m e s a n d t h e c l o s e l i n k s

b e t w e e n s t u d y , p r o g r a m m e s a n d ' c e r ti f i c a ti o n ' f o r

t h e p r o f e s s i o n s w e r e q u e s t i o n e d . D e m a n d s f r o m

a c o m m o n N o r d i c l a b o u r m a r k e t a n d d e v e l o p -

m e n t t o w a r d s a c o m m o n E u r o p e a n m a r k e t p a v e dt h e w a y f o r a ' c o n t r o l l e d r e t r e a t ' ( B j 6 r l d u n d

1 9 9 5 ) . S e v e r a l s t e p s w e r e t a k e n b y t h e S o c i a l

D e m o c r a t i c g o v e rn m e n t t o d e v o l v e t h e d e c i s i o n -

m a k i n g a u t h o r i t y i n o r d e r t o c o p e w i t h s h o r t -

c o m i n g s i n t h e s y s t e m a n d a c c e l e r a t in g c o s t s. T h e

S o c i a l D e m o c r a t i c M i n i s t e r a d m i t t e d t h a t a f t e r

t e n y e a r s t h e r e f o rm s t o o d o u t a s o n e o f t h e m o s t

m o d e r n ' p l a n n i n g p h i l o s o p h i e s ' i n E u r o p e , a l -

t h o u g h b r i n g i n g a b o u t e x t en s i v e a d m i n i s t ra t i v e



2 0 4 B E t UT AS KL ING A ND E D GAR AI . .h ~ N

work, to o m uch detai led governance, a nd a s truc-

ture o f courses and programmes that has som e-

t i m e s l e a d t o s u p e r f i c i a l i t y (Go v e rn m e n t a lp ro po s a l 1 9 9 0 / 9 1 ) .

The Social Democrat ic Minis ter also estab-

l ished a Commission to prepare for pedagogical

improvements in undergraduate educat ion. The

report from the Commission was ent i t led 'Free-

dom, Responsibi l i ty , Competence ' (SOU 1992).

I t was comple ted unde r the reg ime o f the new

government and was met by posi t ive react ions

from most academics. In its final report, the

Commiss ion appea led to the ind iv idua l au ton-

om y o f academics , to the ideal s o f Hu mb old t

Universi ty and to th e long-stand ing issue of

research connect ions in undergraduate e ducat ion

(Roll , Ekstedt and Barnet t 1993).

In 199 I , the inc om ing Conservative govern-

ment announc ed ex tensive changes in the higher

education system, concerning such issues as: the

principles and routines for resource allocation;

the undergraduate programme structure; the ad-

mission o f s tudents ; the relat ionship with the

government; the local decision-making structure;

and institutional leadershil x In all the se aspects

h igher educa t ion had to undergo fundamen ta l

changes, whic h w ere argued for in terms of an

outspoken cri t ique of the former Social De mo-cratic policies of central ism and of kee ping s tu-

dent numb ers constant . A new High er Education

Bil l (cal led 'Freedom for Quali ty ' ) and a new

Higher Educa t ion Ord inance were pu t in to e f -

fect, manifesting a series of far-reaching chang es

in the higher educat ion system, retaining how-

ever many o f the key words l aunched in the

1980s and a l so used by the Commiss ion men-

t ioned above ( 'autono my ' , ' freedom', 'academic' ,

'qual i ty ' , 'knowledge') .

The new po l icy fo r h igher educa t ion thus

el iminates th e s t i ff regulatory system o f the pastin higher educat ion and provides scope for s tu-

dent choice, pluralism and institutional com peti-

t i o n . S t a t e u n i v e r s i t i e s h a v e b e e n g ra n t e d

substantial auto nom y after 20 ye ars of s tr ict

government regulat ion (Unckel 1994)

The N ational Boa rd of Universit ies and Col-

leges was closed dow n. S ome o f its former tasks

were dis tributed to a series of ne w agencies, such

as the Universi ty Chancel lor and the National

Agency for Hig her Education, o th er tasks being

considered unnecessary.

Inst i tu t ions were now more free to organizenew programmes, to al locate and use resource s

within the inst i tu t ions, and to take measures

abou t their in ternal org anizat ion, al l matters

which were, previously , mainly central ly deter-

mined . The more loose ly s t ructu red sys tem a l so

al lowed for - and the inst itu tions we re also

encouraged to find - external resources for teach-

ing and research. Re ferences we re ma de to the

responsibi li ty of academics and their o w n co m-

petence and know ledge base .

With th is series of changes, the gove rnm ent

said , the instrumentalis t wa y o f deal ing w ith

h igher educa t ion by the Social De mocra t ic par ty

had com e to an end . No w t rue decen t ra l i za tion

was to be/mplem ented . Thus, in on e respect , the

new policy was launched as a qui te ne w policy,

bu t in ano ther respec t i t was sa id tha t no w a t l as t

the decentralization policy, launc hed in the mid -

d le o f the 1960s , was to be implemen ted . W hat

changes w ere then sugges ted and w hat change s

were laid down? Let us scrut in ize the 1993

reform by fol lowing the same outl ine as in the

previous section.

T h e De c e n t r a l i z a t io n P o l i c y o f t h e 1 9 9 0 s

1. T he Centre-Peripb eryAspect

With less s tate regulat ion and prescript ion, the

Social Democrat ic government apparently al-

ready in the 198 0s gave up som e of i ts earlier

s t r iv ing e f fo r t s fo r guaran tee ing na t ion -wide

uniformity and equivalence o f final marks.

In the 1990s, the Conservat ive government

advocated competi t ion between inst i tu t ions and

departments as a s trategy for improving qual i ty

and efficiency, and a v ariety of approach es for

such comp eti t ion we re suggested.

2. The Verticztl Transraisn'on

In the rhetoric of the reform, i t wa s said that the

future o f the na t ion was depen den t on the p ro -

ductivi ty of the high er e ducat ion inst itu tions. In

a compet it ive wor ld , the na t ion w as depe nden t

upon i ts academics and their production and

transmission of knowledg e. The relat ions be-

tween the s tate and the universit ies and col leges



F R O M P A R T IC I PA T IO N T O C O M P E T I T I O N 2 0 5

were t o be more s t ab l e and dear - cu t . Many

references were made t o i nd i v i dua l academi cs

and thei r f reedom, responsibi l i ty , and compe-t ence , r a is i ng man y expec t a ti ons on a new era o f

i nd i v i dua l au t o nom y fo r academi c~ The i n s t/ t u -

t i ons were expec t ed b y t he governm en t t o ac t as

en t it i es , w i t h r egard t o such heavy and de ma nd-

•ng der i s io ns as resource al locat ion, negot iat ions

on con t r ac t s and n ew ass i gnmen t s .

The new expec t a t i ons fo r s t rong i n s t i t u t i ona l

m a n a g e m e n t , w h i c h m a n i f e s te d t h e m s e lv e s w h e n

t he 1993 r e fo rm was se t i n work , mea n t t ha t

au t ho r i t y had t o be conc en t r a t ed t o t he i n s ti t u -

t i ona l l eve l, i f governm en t expec t a t i ons on s t ra -

t eg i c and ac t ive i n s t it u t iona l mana gem en t were

t o be met . The ro l e o f t he f acu l t y board , and i n

par t i cu la r t he ro l e o f t he dean , has ch anged . The

co l l eg i a l i ty o f t he deans no w ha s t o b e d i r ec t ed

t owards t he ma nagem en t o f t he i n s t i t u t i on as an

en t i t y r a t her t ha n t ow ards t he i r ow n f acu lt ies .

The ver t ica l tr ansmi ss ion has mad e a - fo r mos t

academi cs - unsched u l ed ha l t a t t he i n s t i tu t i ona l

l eve l and l a i d i t se l f open t o t he decen t r a l i za t ion

paradox : a dece nt ral ized cent rali sm.

3. The Dim-ibm'on o f Influence o Actors

In t he 1993 r e fo rm, t he num ber o f ex te rna l

r ep resen ta t ives i n u nderg raduat e bod i es was r e -duced. In th is respect the actors in the decis ion-

m a k i n g m a c h i n e r y w i t h in t h e i n s ti tu t io n s n o w

f o r m a m o r e h o m o g e n e o u s g r o u p o f a ca d e m i cs

and s t uden t s t han i n the 1970s and 1980s . On

t he un i ver s i t y boards , on t he o t her hand , ex t e rna l

r ep resen t a t ives n ow fo rm t he maj o r i ty .

A c c o r d i n g to t h e n e w B il l a n d O r d i n a n c e o f

1993 , i n s t it u t ions , f acu l ty boards and depar t -

men t s a r e fo r t he i r own su rv i va l more d i r ec t l y

engaged i n - and a lso depe nden t on - d i a l ogue

and n ego t i a t i on wi t h t he i r marke t s and co nsum-

er s . Th i s marke t -dependency i s even more p ro -nounc ed w hen i t comes t o r esearch . Di r ec t s ta t e

r esearch fun d i ng has been r educed , and , i n s t ead ,

t he governmen t i s i nd i r ec t l y fund i ng r esearch

t h roug h r esearch counci l s e tc . In add i t i on , non -

g o v e r n m e n t a l f u n d i n g h a s b e c o m e e v e n m o r e

important for the inst i tu t ions.

From t he po i n t o f v i ew o f t he i n s t it u t ions , t he i r

f acu l t y boards and t he i r depar t men t s , t hey a re

more d epe nden t on h ow successful t he i nd i v i d -

ua l r esearcher s and r esearch g rou ps a r e i n a t t r ac t -

i ng p ro j ec t fund i ng . Thus , t he more d i r ec t r e l i -

a n c e o n e x t e r n a l f u n d i n g b ri n g s a b o u t a n e wki nd o f d i f f e r en t i a t i on (i n p res t ige and success i n

fund- ra i s i ng ) wi t h i n t he i n s t it u t ions .

4. ~ ,rod~or~ S tm' ing

In t he p roposa l p receed i ng t he r e fo rm i n 1993 ,

i t was sugges t ed t ha t t he a l l oca t i on o f r esou rces

ou gh t t o a cer t a i n ex t en t be l i nked t o t he p rodu c-

t i v i t y o f t he i n s t it u t ions , f acu l t y boards and de-

par t men t s ( in t e rms o f cost per exam i ned s t uden t )

a n d a l s o t o t h e n u m b e r o f a p p l ic a n t s ( th a t m e a n s

ho w po pu l ar a cer t a i n i n s t i tu t i on , p rog ram m e o r

cour se i s ) . I n add i t i on , t he Conserva t i ve M i n i s t e r

advoca t ed t he i n t roduct i on o f qua l i t y i nd i ca t o rs ,

bu t t h i s p roposa l was so heav i l y a t t acked t ha t t he

m i n i s te r w i t h d r e w i t.

Fo r t he f acu l t y board , t he sh i f t f rom p roac t i ve

t o r e t roac t i ve s t eer i ng has mean t a subs t an t i a l

change i n ro le . As a consequence o f t he separa-

t i on o f underg rad uat e mat t e r s f rom research ones

in the 1977 reform (see ear l ier sect ion) , the

facu l t y boards a t t ha t t i me were m ai n l y d i r ec t ed

t owards r esearch matt er s, w h i ch we re ha nd l ed i n

acco rdance w i t h wel l - es tab l i shed , co l leg i a l l y -ac-

c e p t e d f a c u l t y - b o u n d a c a d e m i c c r it e ri a . N o w

t hey have go t ex t ens i ve r espons i b i l i t y fo r t hequal i t y and e f f i c i ency o f a l l ac t i v it i es w i t h i n t he i r

domai ns .

The p ro fess i ona l s i n h i gher educa t i on a re ex -

pec t ed t o t ake an ac t ive par t i n qua l i t y con t ro l by

us i ng ex t e rna l exami ner s and peer r ev i ews . Al so

wi t h i n t he depar t men t s , r e t roac ti ve s t eer i ng was

t h o u g h t t o h a v e a m o r e p r e d o m i n a n t r o l e t h a n

h i t her t o . Such changes have g radual l y been i m-

p l e m e n t e d a n d o b v i o u s ly m a d e t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s

o f devo l ved r espons i b i l it y more ev i den t and a l so

ca l l ed fo r a s t r eng t hen i ng o f leade r sh i p on a l l

levels wi th in the inst i tu t ion.

5. Focus Topics and I.~ucs)

T h e m o s t i n f l u en t ia l c o m p o n e n t o f t h e r e f o rm i n

1993 was t he new resou rce a l l oca t i on sys t em,

w h i c h w a s i m p l e m e n t e d a l m o s t a t t h e s a m e t i m e

a s th e g o v e r n m e n t t o o k m e a s u re s t o r a p i d l y e x -

pand underg raduat e s t ud i es . A l t hough t he fund-

i ng i s kep t on t he sam e level as a t t he beg i nn i ng

of t he 1990s , t he s i mu l t aneous increase i n s t u -



2 0 6 B ER 1T A S K LIN G A N D ED G A R A LM I~ N

den t numbe rs means tha t the real per capitapay-

ment has decreased. More than an~r,h ing e l s e ,

thi s com bina t ion o f a new a l loca t ion sys tem anda substantial increase in stud ent num bers called

fo r a concen t ra t ion o f dec i s ion -mak ing pow er to

the inst i tu t ional level , at the e xpense o f the

auto nom y of individual univers i ty teacherg Th e

decen t ra l i zed au thor i ty now has to be used fo r

the manag eme nt of the enti re inst itu tion includ-

ing financial decisions, recruitment o f staff, crea-

t ion o f new p rogram mes , and courses , and

develop me nt o f research programmes, and not

just for decis ions concerning curriculum and

pedago gical matters . This means that many input

variables (so-called frame factors) and output

variables (results and outcom es) are br oug ht u n-

der the responsibi l i ty of the insti tu t ions and their

academics in addit ion to the process variables

(concerning the curriculum in the broa der sense).

Key W ords o f t~e 1990s

Key word s o f the 1990s a re no t on ly p roduct iv -

ity, efficiency, proliferation, com petition , quality,

and academic autonomy but also inst i tu t ional

management.

F ro m P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n P l a n n i n g t o

C o m p e t i t io n i n M a r k e ts

R~'onales o f the 1970s

In the 1970S, there was in Sweden a s t rong be l ie f

in planning as a means for adjust ing higher

educat ion to labour market demands. There was

also a s t rong bel ief in participat ion as a means to

the democra t i za t ion o f the h igher educa t ion in -

s t i tu t ions as workplaces and for s imultaneously

increasing the e fficiency o f th is p lanning. The

decentral izat ion pol icy was also closely related to

the regional izat ion pol io/

Decentral izat ion was expressed by the use ofpol it ical metaph ors . A certain am ount o f influ-

ence on pedagog ica l i s sues was t ransmi t ted

downwards , b u t the cen t re kep t con t ro l o f eco -

nomic and s tructural issues in order to support

and pro tect imp ortant pol i t ically social welfare

goals . The e xten ded part icipat ion had to be

coun terba lanced b y a f ramework o f po l i t ica l ly

motivated central regulat ions. From the perspe c-

t ive of the a cadem ics (not least in the fac ukies of

Humanit ies and Social Sciences), the presenc e o f

organizational representatives on bo th national

and local levels implied an external influence onthe curriculum, aiming at guaranteeing th e voca-

t ional orientat ion (and the funct ional role of

higher education).

References were usual ly also made to democ-

ra cF Decentral ization was often argue d fo r as an

instrument f or prom oting democ rac F B y u se o f

geographical decentralization, acce ss to highe r

educa t ion cou ld be suppor ted and thus a l so an

equalization of educat ional opportuni ty . By po-

litical decentralization, a co-d eter min ation in the

governance and managemen t o f h igher educa t ion

was in tended and thus a l so an equal iza t ion o f

influence.

The no t ion o f na t ion -wide un i fo rmi ty was a l so

ke pt intact, which gave central au thori t ies a w ell-

defined task: in order to guarantee the equiva-

lence o f the system, a certa/n am oun t o f central

planning was necessary. Therefore, despi te de-

centralizat ion, the centre ( the gove rnm ent and

the nat ional board) played an important role in

prescribing how resources were to be used and

the organizat ion managed. The in tended shift

from goal-regulation s teering to goal- outco me

s teer ing was never fu l ly implemen ted and the

steering w as still mo re proactiv e than retroactive.Higher educa t ion was cons idered an in s t ru -

ment for use wi th immediate and d irect effect for

realizing an individual ly oriented social welfare

policy and also for meet ing ident if ied or pre-

dicted demands from the labour market . From

such a point o f v iew, there was no need for

e laborat ing any p roduct con t ro l wi th in the sys -

tem, as ma ny of the important cri teria h ad t o be

defined in areas far outs ide higher educat ion.

This can explain the mediocre and half-hearted

efforts to establish evaluation activities on the

local level. Evaluat ions w ere not - and righ t ly so- regarded as necessary issues in a local plann ing

process . State decis ions were anyhow taken on

other, broader, grounds.

The ro le o f the governmen t was , desp i te the

references to decentralization, still the 'resp onsi-

ble one ' in accordance with the rat ional p lann ing

model. B y a careful selection o f local actors, th e

governmen t devo lved some o f i t s au tho r i~ ap -

parendy re ly /ng on these ac to rs as rep resen t ing



F R O M P A R T I C IP A T IO N T O C O M P E T I T I O N 2 0 7

society , the labour m arket and the academics and

students in balanced proportions,

In the rhetoric o f the reform, there was amixture of references to decentral izat ion (in

terms o f dev olvin g authority) a nd dem ocratiza-

tion (in terms ofcorp orativ ism , including internal

as well as external part icipat ion). The auton omy

o f the institutions har dly increased, and individ-

ual academics even felt that it decreased.

The qual i ty aspect was mainly t reated implic-

i tly . Qu ali ty was guaranteed by planning and

external influences in the planning process on a

central as well as institutional level.

Thus, the main impression is that the decen-

tral ization was look ed upon as an issue of ex-

tended co rpora t iv i sm wi th in a f ramework o f

rational planning.

R~'tnutles of the 1990s

At the beginning of the 1990s, both the Social

Democratic and the Conservative governments

expressed a clear distrust in central planning for

meeting labour market demands and designed a

less prescribed role for the institutions and aca-

demics. The form er confidence in state-regulated

participation, co-o pera tion and a sharing o f re-

sponsibilities as impo rtant issues in a planning

strategy for adjustments and for social equality,was replaced by a confidence in self-regulation,

competition for survival and natural selection as

means for guaranteeing an overall readiness for

unpredictable future demands and for academic

quality.Both governments announced a shift from

planning an d labou r market adjustments to com -

petition and a trust in academia itself as a means

for increasing efficiency and productivity. The

change o f government in 1991 m ade i t easier not

only to launch the n ew policy but also to imple-

ment i t .The reform in 1993 opened up a morevaried in terplay between higher educat ion and

the markets and encouraged the institutions to

contribute to the development of Sweden as a

'know ledge society ' of good international re-

pute.Decentral izat ion was, at the beg inning of the

I99 0s, expressed b y the use of market meta-

pho rg T he striving for a fair distribution o f

higher educat ion among individuals was not on

the agenda in the same way as in the 1970s .

Concern for equal i ty am ong individuals was re-placed by a concern for academic qual i ty in

international and national perspectives. Q ual ity

was to be improved by compet i t ion be tween

institutions and departments and assessed ac-

cording t o academ ic criteria.

A market orientat ion is also apparent when i t

comes to th e inner l ife of the insti tu t ions. The

professional performance o f the academics will

have a mo re direct influence on individual c redi-

tation and the reputat ion o f the departm ent . And,

by referring to the fi f th aspect used for describing

the two w aves of decentralization, the dece ntral-

ized authori ty is expected to be used for taking

m a j o r s t r a t e g i c a l l y n o rm a ti v e a n d e c o n o m i c

measures conce rnin g the institution at large.

Changes in the funding system have forced

facul t ies and departments to compete more vig-

o rous ly fo r money . Sc ien t i s t s and sc ien t i f i c

groups are increasingly obl iged to ap ply for their

funding outside the university. (Askling, AlmCn

and Karlsson 1995; West l ing, Angsmark and

Blomqvist 1997). Th e ve ry exis tence of external

market forces to be taken in to account and re-

acted upon has driven the inst itu tions to take

measures to strengthe n the institutional leade r-ship (Askling 1994; Ba uer and He nkel 1997),

qui te in l ine with the suggest ions proposed by

Trow (1993 ). The centrifugal forces within the

university are increasing (Bj~rklund 1995 ).

The decentral izat ion in the 197 0s concerned

mainly internal curriculum-related issues and th e

( res tr ic ted ) academic au tonomy o f th e 1970s was

cou nterb alan ced by corporativist interests re-

flecting the political will of the go vern ing par t~

The decentralization in the 1 990 s concerns

vital aspects of responsibility - ma inly in the area

o f f inance - w h ic h inev itab ly a l so a ffec t thepreconditions for internal activities and the inter -

play with external forces . The (extended) aca-

d e m i c a u t o n o m y o f t h e 1 9 9 0 s i s

counterbalanced by new and unfamil iar de ma nds

of accountabi l i ty and compe ti t ion.

In this phase, there is an increase in institu-

tional autonomy, but hardly any increase in indi-

vidual autonomy On the contrary , th is second



20 8 B ER IT A S K LIN G A N D ED G A R A LM I~N

wave o f decen t ra li za t ion has made a m ore pow -

erful ins t i tu t ional m anagem ent necessary. In the

Swe dish contex t , th is is a new issue.

Meanings and FuncU'onso fHigher Educan'on

In bo th per iods , the 1970s and the 1990s , h igher

educa t ion has been looked upon as a too l fo r

importan t pol ic y measures con cerning the future

of the nat ion. In the 1970s, the government

'knew' the fu tu re and des igned the h igher edu-

cat ion system in accordance with i ts own pol icy

and wishes . In the 1990s ' the government has a

more hum ble at t itude. For the future of the na-

t ion , soc ie ty i s depend en t on h igher educa t ion

and i ts capac i ty to p roduce know ledge and com-

petence fo r tomo rrow 's (markets and) society .

In 1994 , The M in is try o f Educa tion fo rmu-

lated the chal lenge ahead in the fol lowing way:

Th e old central isation has been replaced byautonomy, plural ism, inst i tu t ional compe-tence and individual choice. That is , in myop in ion , the on ly poss ib le way , fo r any c oun-try, to create a s t ructure for schools and uni-versi ties whic h can deal with th e dem ands forflexibi l ity and qual i ty in an uncertain tomo r-

row. (Unckel 1994 , Ix 12)

In his v iew, the univers i ty is considered as having

a unique and fundamental ro le in society , inp roducing and rep roducing knowledge . One ma-

j o r t a s k f o r t h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s b e e n t o

s t reng then Swe den as a na tion o f knowledge .

This s tands in sharp contrast to the view of

higher educ at ion in the 1970 s, as impo rtant tools

for the rationalistic plann ing o f future society.

The functionalist (or instrumentalist) approach at

that t ime neglected the in trinsic character of

higher educ at ion (Barnet t 1992). To som e ex-

tent , i t also s tands in sharp contrast to how

academics themselves in te rp re ted the Higher

Educa tion Comm iss ion a t the beg inn ing o f the

1990s in i ts appeal to the a utonom y of academics

by the use of 'Freedom, Responsibi l i ty , Compe-

tence ' (the title o f the final report).

In the 1970s , there was a s trong b d i ef among

polit icians in bein g able to use higher educat ion

as a tool for societal changes. The future could

be posi t ively influenced by del iberate measures

and the educat ional system (l ike other parts of

the public sector) could have such an act ive

service funct ion. The pol icy created formed a

strange com binat ion o f functional is t ic vocat io nal

o r ien ta t ion on the on e hand , and re fe rences to

the Humbolt ian ideals (not least the research

connection) on the other.

In the 1990s the v iew i s qu i te d i ffe ren t. Globa l

competitiveness makes central govern anc e diffi-

cul t, i f not impossible. Instead o f designin g a

national system, the only wa y is apparently, from

the gove rnment 's perspective, to de sign a f lexible

and loosely organize d system, w hich al lo ws for

fluctuat ions and an in terplay w ith ex ternal - and

international - forces.

In th is respect , Swedish higher educat ion has

undergon e the same shift in aims as is evid ent in

man y othe r countries.

The main pu rposes o f h igher educa t ion havevaried grea t ly from t ime to t ime and place top lace a round the wor ld . Somet imes they havebeen service to the church, or to the ancientprofessions, o r to an ideology, or to an aris-tocrat ic and/or affluent dass" or to the effi -c iency and p owe r o f the na t ion s ta te . Inmodern t imes and in m ore and m ore p laces ,the main purpo se has come to be: to serve the

economy. (Kerr 1994a, p .51)

The government has also given up the rat ional

planning m odel of governance, and take n del ib-

erate s teps towards a mo re self-regulat ive model

of governance. W hether th is wil l also imply a

deve lopmen t towards the so -ca l l ed convergence

model, advoca ted by Kerr (1994b) and imp ly ing

a more outspoken different iat ion and s trat i f ica-

t ion be tween and wi th in the h igher educa t ion

institutions (the US model), is still an ope n q ues-

t ion.

T h e T w o R e f o r m s i n R e t r o sp e c t

The h igher educa t ion sys tem and the h igher

educat ion insti tu t ions have unusual ly com pli-cated pow er structures (Clark 1983). In th e fi rs t

wave of decentralization, in the 1970 s ' the com -

plexi ty was almost neglected. The dis tr ibut ion of

authori ty was t reated as an almost one-dimen-

sional issue of t ransmission, d ispers ion an d dev o-

l u t io n o f p o w e r i n t e rm s o f r e s p o n s i b il i ty ,

authori ty and autonomy. The goals were also

treated as e asy and w ell-definable.



F R O M P A R T I C I P A T IO N T O C O M P E T I T I O N 2 0 9

Th e f i r s t wave o f decen t r a l i za t ion po l icy was a

r esponse t o an expans i on t ha t had a l r eady s t a r t ed

( and a s a m a t te r o f fac t a lm os t ceased wh en ther e fo r m w a s t o b e i m p l e m e n t e d ) a n d i m p l i e d a n

i n v i t a t i o n t o n e w i n t e r e s t g r o u p s t o b r e a k t h e

a c a d e m i c m o n o p o l y o n c u r r ic u lu m d e s i g n a n d t o

take an act ive part in direct ing undergraduate

programmes. With reference to the corporat iv is t

t r a d it io n a n d t o o n g o i n g d e m o c r a t i za t / on p r o c -

e s s i n t h e l a b o u r m a r k e t , t h e s o c i a l / p o l i t i c a l

in f luence inc r eased and soc ia l and voca t iona l

r e l evance c r it e r ia over shadowed academi c c r i t e -

r i a . The democra t i za t i on bo t h f rom above ( t he

state) , f rom wi thin (new personnel groups) and

from below (students) b lurred the universi ty ' s

aims a nd und erm ined i t s specif ic in t r insic values

(Ber t i l sson 1991) . De cent ral izat ion was imple-

m e n t e d w i t h i n a f r a m e w o r k o f u n i f o r m i t y a s a

guaran t ee fo r equ i va lence as an i mpor t an t aspec t

o f q u a l i ~ .

In t he secon d wave, i n t he 1990s , t he au t ho r i t y

o f t he academ i c s t a f f was t o som e ex t en t r e- es-

t ab l ished , as was t he au t onom y o f t he i n s t it u -

t i ons , w i t h r egard t o t he i r r e l a t i onsh i p t o t he

s t a te . Academ i c c r i te r ia r ega i ned t he i r p redo mi -

n a n c e. H o w e v e r , t h e a u t h o r i t y a n d a u t o n o m y o f

t he i n s t i t u t i ons and t he i r academi cs have t o be

used fo r compet i t i ve pu rposes i n ex t e rna l mar -

kets~

Decen t r a l i za t i on i s a mu l t i -d i mens i ona l and

pos i t i ve ly va l ue- loaded concep t . O ver t he year s,

i t has been de l i bera t e l y u sed by po l i ti c i ans fo r

r ed i s t r ibu t i on o f au t ono my and au t ho r i t y i n vari -

ous d i rect ions, to var ious recipients , an d co ncern-

ing va r ious tasks and i ssues.

O u r e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e t w o w a v e s o f p o l ic y

i nd i ca tes t ha t t he con t i nuous and l ong- t e rm ref -

e rences t o decen t r a l i za t ion do n o t i m p l y a con -

t i nuous and one-d i mens i ona l r educ t i on i n s t a t e

governance and a co r r espond i ng con t i nuous andone-dimensional increase in local and individual

auton om y. O n the cont rary , the pol i t ical act iv i ty

s i nce t he 1970s can be l ooked upon as a 30 -year

s t rugg l e be t ween t wo con t r ad i c t o ry model s o f

s t a t e governance : the model o f r a t i ona l p l ann i ng

and t he m odel o f se lf - r egu l a t ion .

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