Governing by Organizing: The Context of Universities in Sweden

Abstract

The chapter provides an overview of how three significant educational reforms, dating back to the late 1970s, have shaped the policy agenda for higher education and research in Sweden. The concept of metagovernance through governing by organizing is applied as a conceptual framework for comprehending the steering mechanisms inherent in these three university reforms. The reforms serve as illustrations, revealing that the state’s governance capacity is strongly contingent upon organizational factors. The application of organizational theory helps uncover new aspects of the state’s role and governance within the domain of higher education and research policy. This mode of steering frequently manifests as the establishment of conditions or the facilitation of capacities for steering mechanisms within specific organizational structures, aimed at achieving policy objectives. The objectives are formulated around various, and often ambivalent, ideas of how to enforce and advance the means through which universities can matter to other parts of society and national development.