Administrative reorganization as a means to improve the public governance of European higher education: A comparative case study of Austria and Norway

Abstract

This study addresses organizational change in the ministerial bureaucracy and its effects on higher education governance. The empirical contexts are the Austrian and Norwegian higher education policy sectors, where administrative reorganization and the establishment of public agencies were key components in the governance reforms of the early 2000s. The collection and analysis of statistical data on organizational developments, legal frameworks, policy documents, and key expert interviews with bureaucrats, policymakers, and academics provides the empirical evidence. The findings show that the ministerial bureaucracy in Austria and Norway rearranged the governance structures of their respective higher education sectors in different ways, and that they can choose among different governance options based on how organizational mandates are shaped and how resources are distributed between ministerial and agency level.