Diffusion Durch Internationale Organisationen: Die Bildungspolitik der OECD

Abstract

By presenting OECD activities in education policy, this article analyzes international organizations and the discursive instruments they use to influence their member states. The study is based on the theoretical background of sociological institutionalism which conceptualizes such organizations as key actors in policy diffusion. We isolate three different diffusion instruments that are used by international organizations to influence national policy change, namely agenda setting, policy formulation and policy coordination. Empirically, these instruments are analyzed using the examples of "lifelong learning" and "benchmarking through indicators" at two different points in time. The arti_cle demonstrates that OECD's success in education policy making was caused by the combination of these different instruments.