University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2005 POWER, POLITICS, AND THE 1997 RESTRUCTURING OF HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN KENTUCKY Michael Allen Garn University of Kentucky Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Garn, Michael Allen, "POWER, POLITICS, AND THE 1997 RESTRUCTURING OF HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN KENTUCKY" (2005). University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations. 353. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/353 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Michael Allen Garn The College of Education University of Kentucky 2005 POWER, POLITICS, AND THE 1997 RESTRUCTURING OF HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN KENTUCKY ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky By Michael Allen Garn Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Susan J. Scollay, Associate Professor of Education Lexington, Kentucky Copyright © Michael Allen Garn 2005 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION POWER, POLITICS, AND THE 1997 RESTRUCTURING OF HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE IN KENTUCKY This study describes the policymaking process and policy solutions enacted in the Kentucky Postsecondary Improvement Act of 1997 (or House Bill 1). The study employs both an historical recounting of the “story” of House Bill 1 and a narrative analysis of opinion-editorials and policymaker interviews to reveal and explain how political power comprised both the perennial problem of Kentucky’s higher education policymaking – and the tool with which conflicts over power distribution were resolved.