Reformation or Transformation? Policy Reform in Ireland’s Higher Education System

Abstract

Recent developments in policy analysis promote the use of blended or fused frameworks in order to capture the complexity of contemporary policy processes. Such an approach is particularly relevant to the complex higher education policy sphere. Having identified the appropriateness and conceptual and practical utility of such models, this article proposes a model linking the streams, stages and AFC approaches in an institutional frame. The framework is then applied in an analysis of higher education policy reform during the last 20 years in Ireland. The article pinpoints the benefits and challenges of creating and applying such frameworks of analysis and highlights their relevance to the education sector and their potential for the policy studies community.