Public Education Policy in the Years of Transition

Some Remarks (Comments) on the Centralization of the Public Education System in Hungary

Abstract

This study examines the challenges and failures of the discourse on the education policy-making process. Fully matured reforms are hampered by a lack of continuity and efficacy. Organizational constraints, such as a lack of institutional dialogue, can be observed behind many education policy failures. This paper explores the implications of applying discourse analysis to research projects in the field of education policy studies in order to illustrate how new insights can be gained through a discourse analytical approach. I seek to examine elements of the policymaking process, such as policy formation, implementation, and evaluation. Actions of the state are implemented through increasingly complex sets of institutions. Organisations and structures provide the framework in which policies are defined and policy decisions are made. I hope that my analysis will yield evidence for my hypothesis that decision-makers are not quite clear about the fact that the implementation of the government’s objectives and public policy programs do not necessarily coincide.