Analysis in Politics: The Regionalization of Swedish Higher Education

Abstract

Sweden has, since the 1950s, made a fairly consistent effort to spread higher education across the country. What has been the role of policy analysis and research in this effort at regionalization? This article represents an attempt to answer this question. A starting point is the simple distinction between two major forms of social problem solving: analysis and social interaction. Recent writings by Charles Lindblom and Aaron Wildavsky have convincingly shown the fruitfulness of this distinction.' Briefly, both argue that analysis (termed cogitation by Wildavsky) is generally accorded an exaggerated role in studies of social problem solving in general as well as in that particular form, public policymaking. Social scientists tend to underestimate the importance of various forms of social interaction as problem-solving mechanisms, even in contexts where analysis seemingly provides the basic criteria for policy choices. Social interaction-with its two basic forms, politics and markets-is more often than not a major determinant of outcomes. When or intellectual cogitation, appears, it does so normally in the form of partisan analysis, that is, as analysis tailored to fit positions adopted already on the basis of other criteria.2 However, we are obviously dealing with very complex relationships. The literature on knowledge utilization has in recent years taken pains to illustrate the many ways in which policy analysis and social research may enter policy processes.3 A lack of impact in the short run does not preclude considerable effects in the long run. The fact that analysis does not provide the objective criteria sought by policymakers and analysts does not prevent such activities from slowly permeating the definition of problems and the formulation of policy options. In this article I will first provide an overview of the policy of regionalization in Swedish higher education. Three key decision-making processes are identified during the period, and in three separate sections each is