Das Arbeitspapier beschäftigt sich mit methodischen Fragen in der vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft, im speziellen mit der Nutzung von Daten internationaler Organisationen (IOs) für 'large-N'-Analysen. Dabei geht der Artikel wie folgt vor: Zunächst wird vorgestellt, für welche Typen von...

Bildungspolitik wird in den westlichen Industrienationen häufig als ausschließliche Aufgabe des Nationalstaates betrachtet. Seit den 1990ern ist jedoch zu beobachten, dass internationale Organisationen (IOs) eine immer größere Rolle im Politikfeld Bildung spielen, indem sie neue Formen der...

Civil society participation has become a buzzword in the debate about the legitimacy and accountability of international governance. Many organizations, prominently among them the World Trade Organization (WTO), have come under considerable pressure to open up their policy-making process towards...

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the changing face of New Zealand education policy over the past 25 years. It highlights the phase of socio-economic trans-formation in the late 1980s and its far-reaching impact on the education system, before turning to the last two decades, in...

It is often claimed that the participation of civil society organisations (CSOs) can mitigate the ‘democratic deficit’ of international organisations and the European Union. The underlying assumption is that transnational CSOs are, through their advocacy work, voicing citizens’ interests,...

This paper analyzes the importance of governance of international organizations (IOs) to Swiss policy making in the field of education. The focus is on the Bologna Process driven by the European Commission, and the ‘Programme for International Student Assessment’ (PISA) of the Organization...

The legitimacy of international institutions is a contested issue both in terms of concept formation and empirical evidence and attracts attention from across the political sciences. The present contribution posits a relational concept of legitimacy that includes self-justification of rulers on...

How do international organisations (IOs) influence domestic policymaking? In the field of educational policy, IOs increasingly play an important role in shaping national debates and policies. Comparative studies as conducted by the OECD, for example, reveal strengths and weaknesses of individual...

This article develops a theoretical framework to analyze the rise and spread of global public policy. After an introduction to the background of sociological institutionalism, it first elaborates on the role and functions of international organizations, identifying instruments by which these can...

When do states turn to the United Nations Security Council? Today the term threat to peace is interpreted more widely than ever before ranging from inter-state conflict over internal wars to humanitarian crisis. Alarming the Security Council to international crisis is an exceptional foreign...