Abstract
AbstractWe examine the effects of school choice reforms implemented in the early 1990s in two different settings: Sweden and Milwaukee (WI, U.S.). We show how both the ideological and theoretical arguments for choice reform were similar in the two contexts, yet the consequences in terms of the organizational outcome and institutional sector configuration ended up strikingly dissimilar. While the new group of actors in the Swedish school system consisted primarily of large-scale for-profit schools, with only a minor share of the expansion being catered to by nonprofit actors, the Milwaukee school choice program became dominated by small-scale nonprofit schools operated by religious communities. We seek to explicate these differences by drawing on the welfare state literature and social origins theory, as well as from organizational and historical institutional theory. We argue that the resulting composition of providers is directly related to the deep-seated differences in the civil society regimes operating in the two contexts.
Highlights
The high importance of education to a well-functioning society is widely accepted
We argue that the resulting composition of providers is directly related to the deep-seated differences in the civil society regimes operating in the two contexts
We have examined the processes surrounding the emergence of a new educational landscape in two different institutional settings from the launch of early pioneering school choice policy initiatives to the current organizational configuration and mix of different educational providers
Summary
The high importance of education to a well-functioning society is widely accepted. Education is a major battlefield for social and political ambitions. A diversity of systems and models across the world has been adopted for how to organize, manage, provide, fund and distribute education, as in many other welfare fields. One important vehicle for this development toward conformity is often argued to be the transnational spread of ideas and ideals through new concepts and models (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998)
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