Cross-national exchange, the OECD, and Australian education policy

Abstract

This article addresses a topic that has hitherto gained scant attention in the knowledge utilization literature, namely, the effects of cross-national exchange on national policy formation. It draws on Weiss’s seminal study of U.S. congressional decision making, which suggested that in addition to using knowledge from research for guidance, politicians also use knowledge from many sources for legitimation, warning, and enlightenment. Case studies presented in this article suggest that while Australian policymakers use information from the OECD in all these ways, the enlightenment and legitimation fuctions are especially important.