The paper contributes to the literature of multi-level welfare governance and public accountability in the context of recent European hospital reforms. Focusing on the changing dynamics between regional and central governance of hospitals in Germany, Norway and Denmark, we raise concerns about...

This edited volume explores a variety of aspects of associative governance, providing detailed case studies of associations and associational governance in Scandinavia. Theoretically developing a concept and approach of associative governance, the book sheds light on a dynamic way of perceiving...

Germany and the USA both industrialized between 1860 and 1925, but they developed different systems for industrial and technical education. The Germans developed a more comprehensive, system, with three distinct levels; lower, middle and higher education. The higher engineering schools were...

In this chapter, we focus on the stabilizing functions of public bureaux and examine some of the consequences attendant upon attempts to make them less hierarchical and more ‘flexible’. In so doing, we seek to evidence the ways in which what are represented as anachronistic practices in the...

The paper sets forth and examines the assumptions underlying two global ideas – world class and best practices – and their application to (higher) education and health organizations. Our basic (ex-ante) assumption is that both sectors are influenced by organizational fields that embody these...