The Bologna Process: the democracy–bureaucracy dilemma

Abstract

The Bologna Process was aimed at making a Europe of Knowledge possible, but the standardisation process following the development of the European Higher Education Authority challenged its democratic values; the autonomy of the bureaucratic part of higher education institutions has been strengthened while their faculty members have less formal power. This article examines this dilemma using Weber’s remarks on the bureaucratisation of education as a tool to reveal the ratio between democracy and bureaucracy in the process of establishing the EHEA 1999–2010 – a dilemma never solved, hence important to be aware of.