Phd Gangolf Braband
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Gangolf Braband BSSc, MSSc Federalism and Higher Education Policy A comparative study of Canada and Germany Degree for which thesis is submitted: PhD Queen’s University Belfast Faculty of Legal, Social and Educational Sciences Belfast, 05.04.2004 ii Acknowledgements This study was made possible through the generosity of the former Institute of European Studies at the Queen’s University of Belfast. I wish to thank the members of staff and my fellow PhD students for creating a stimulating environment for my research. In particular I want to thank the following people for their advice and suggestions: Tom Wilson who acted as one of my supervisors; and Alexander Thumfart and Bernhard Becher from the University of Erfurt. This study also greatly benefited from a research trip to the Queen’s University of Kingston (Canada) which was made possible by the generous invitation of the director of the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Harvey Lazar. The member of staff there created a warm and welcoming atmosphere which I very much appreciated. As part of my stay it was possible for me to speak to various experts who were always helpful and willing to share their knowledge. These included Ronald Watts, Peter Leslie and Douglas Brown from Queen’s; Robert Best (AUCC); David M. Cameron (Dalhousie University, Halifax) and David Cameron (University of Toronto). I also want to thank Kathy Brock and Janet Hiebert for letting me participate in their courses at Queen’s and the AUCC who offered me the use of their library for research. Last, but certainly not least, a special thanks to Robert Harmsen whom to me proved that the supervisor can make a difference. Gangolf Braband Belfast, April 2004 iii Contents Acknowledgements ii Abbreviations vi Abstract ix I – INTRODUCTION Federalism and higher education policy in Canada and Germany 1 1 The relevance of federalism and higher Education 2 1.1. Federalism 4 1.2. Higher education and research 7 1.3. The relevance of federalism and higher education as a research topic 9 1.3.1. Why does it matter? 9 1.3.2. Existing literature 11 2 Canada and Germany 16 2.1. The advantages of a comparative approach to federalism 16 2.2. Why Canada and Germany? 18 2.3. Two opposing models of federalism 22 2.3.1. The concepts of interstate and intrastate federalism 22 2.3.2. The influence of the party systems 25 2.3.3. Intrastate federalism and the Joint-Decision Trap 29 2.3.4. Interstate federalism and executive federalism 32 2.4. Influencing factors beyond the political models 34 3 Federalism and higher education: approaching the problem 38 3.1. The question of balance and the impact of the federal models 38 3.2. Framework for analysis 42 3.3. Outline of the remaining chapters 50 II – CANADA The rise and fall of federal influence: towards provincial higher education and federal research 54 1 Introduction 55 2 The historical background of higher education in Canada 58 2.1. Early beginnings and the BNA Act 59 2.2. From the BNA Act to the First World War 61 2.3. The interwar period and the Second World War 65 3 A public and federal issue: the postwar period and its aftermath 69 3.1. The Veterans Rehabilitation Act and its aftermath 69 3.2. The Massey Commission and the consequences of direct grants 72 3.3. Growth towards a turning point 74 3.4. Towards a federal peak in higher education policy 78 iv 4 Formation of higher education policies in the provinces 87 4.1. The higher education ‘awakening’ in the provinces 87 4.2. A new federal role: the end of the direct grant policy 91 4.3. Unpredictable? The financial burden of cost sharing for Ottawa 94 4.4. The changing climate for the universities and the lack of coordination in Canadian higher education 98 5 Established Programs Financing: Failure or the beginning of a change? 102 5.1. The formalities of the new arrangement 103 5.2. Intentions and consequences 106 5.3. Responses and changes 113 5.4. Improved federal-provincial relations? The National Forum and its aftermath 120 5.5. A different picture: Research as an increasingly important element of federal higher education policy 123 6 The establishment of a new federal strategy in higher education policy 129 6.1. Canada Health and Social Transfer: The end of federal aspirations 131 6.2. Towards more direct and targeted federal funding 134 6.3. Summary remarks 142 7 Conclusion: The interstate model at work 146 III – GERMANY The establishment of a federal role in higher education policy in Germany 151 1 Introduction 152 2 Origins of the higher education system and its development in the first decades after the Second World War 155 2.1. Some aspects of the origin of the higher education system 155 2.2. The immediate post war years: No federal presence 159 2.3. The new federal state 166 2.4 Coordination on a national level: The first moves 170 3 A brief encounter? The rise and fall of an interventionist federal higher education policy 175 3.1. New dynamics: a new federal government and the amendment of the Basic Law 175 3.2. Towards the high point of federal higher education intervention 181 3.3. Aspects of a declining federal role? 187 3.3.1 The HRG of 1976 188 3.3.2 Facing rising student numbers – renewed federal involvement? 193 3.3.3. Reduced federal power, reduced financial commitment 195 3.3.4. The situation at the end of the 1970s 197 4 The 1980s – no big changes or just the calm before the storm? 199 4.1. General developments 199 4.2. Research 203 4.3. The situation before unification 207 5 German unification and its aftermath – a need for a federal higher education policy? 209 v 5.1. The starting point: the situation in the higher education system of the GDR 209 5.2. The unification process in higher education and its consequences 215 5.3. Towards a new federal government 220 5.4. The change of government in 1998: renewed federal engagement 226 5.5. Summary remarks 232 6 Conclusion: The intrastate model at work 236 IV – COMPARISON The institutional context and the wider environment of higher education policy in Canada and Germany 242 1 Introduction: The (non-) development of a national policy approach 243 1.1. The starting point: the postwar years 243 1.2. The 1950s and the 1960s: The rise of Bonn and the ‘awakening’ of the Canadian provinces 245 1.3. Establishing the roles: the 1970s and the 1980s 248 1.4. New directions? German unification and Canadian research 250 2 Understanding the conditions 253 2.1. The constitutional and legal environment 254 2.1.1. The BNA Act and the Basic Law 254 2.1.2. Constitutional practice, residual power and institutional reality 256 2.1.3. The role of the courts 262 2.2. The involvement of further actors 265 2.2.1. The party systems 265 2.2.2. Non-governmental actors 268 2.3. The societal environment 271 3 Implications of the policy field – implications for the policy field 275 3.1. The constituent units: balancing autonomy and influence 275 3.2. Implications for the policy sector 281 4 The implications for the federal frameworks 284 4.1. Policy – polity 285 4.2. Balance of the federations 286 5 Prospects for change: not opposing models anymore? 288 V – CONCLUSION Federalism(s) in theory and practice 294 1 Higher education and federalism: main empirical findings 295 2 The wider picture: historical institutionalism and the avenue for further investigation 300 BIBLIOGRAPHY 310 vi Abbreviations APO Extraparliamentary Opposition ( Außerparlamentarische Opposition ) AUCC Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada BLK Federal-Länder Commission for Educational Planning and Promotion of Research ( Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungspanung und Forschungsförderung ) BMBF Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology (Bundeministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie ) – since 1998: Federal Ministry for Education and Research ( Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung ) BMBW Federal Ministry for education and Science ( Bundesministerium für Bildung und Wissenschaft ) BMFT Federal Ministry for research and technology ( Bundeministerium für Forschung und Technologie ) BNA British North America (Act, 1867) BVG Federal Constitutional Court ( Bundesverfassungsgericht ) CAP Canada Assistance Plan CAUT Canadian Association of University Teachers CCFUR Canadian Committee on Financing University Research CDU Christian-Democratic Union ( Christlich-Demokratische Union ) CFI Canada Foundation for Innovation CHIR Canadian Institutes of Health Research CHST Canada Health and Social Transfer CMEC Council of Ministers of Education of Canada CMS Canada Millennium Scholarship Fund CRC Canada Research Chairs CSLP Canada Student Loan Plan/Program CSSHE Canadian Society for the study of Higher Education CSU Christian-Social Union ( Christlich-Soziale Union) CUF Canadian University Foundation DAAD German Academic Exchange Service ( Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdiesnst ) DFG German Research Association ( Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ) DM German Mark ( Deutsche Mark ) vii EPF Established Programs Financing EU European Union FDP Free Democratic Party ( Freie Demokratische Partei ) FH University of Applied Sciences ( Fachhochschule ) FRG Federal Republic of Germany G7/G8 group of seven/eight most important industrial nations (formerly only G7) GDR German Democratic Republic GNP Gross National Product GSH Comprehensive University ( Gesamthochschule ) HBFG Higher Education construction Act ( Hochschulbauförderungsgesetz ) HEP Higher Education Renewal Program (Hochschulerneuerungsprogram) HRG Higher Education Framework Act ( Hochschulrahmengesetz ) HRK