National Education Council 1994−2014: The Genesis of the Idea and the Reasons of its Non-Realization Cover Image

Národní rada pro vzdělávání 1994–2014: Geneze záměru a příčiny jeho neuskutečnění
National Education Council 1994−2014: The Genesis of the Idea and the Reasons of its Non-Realization

Author(s): Arnošt Veselý
Subject(s): Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Nakladatelství Karolinum
Keywords: National Education Council; Czech Republic; education policy; process tracing

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with history of National Education Council from the very beginning of the idea to present. It has two main goals. First, it strives to objectively and accurately reconstruct the intricate process of the Council development. Second, it aims at explaining why the Council has not been established even after twenty years. Based on theories and exploratory information search, four basic hypotheses were formulated: intricacy and maturity, veto player, missing actor and policy work practices. These hypotheses have been used for searching for so called diagnostic evidence. The article is based upon methodology of process tracing. It uses period documents (transcripts, press releases, minutes etc.), periodical articles (especially from Učitelské listy and Učitelské noviny) a period newspapers articles stored in Newton Media database. The memories and feedback of direct participants of the process have also been used as a supplementary source of information. The strongest diagnostic evidence has been found in favour of policy work practices and missing actor hypotheses. On the other hand, there is rather little evidence supporting veto player hypothesis.

  • Issue Year: 9/2015
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 11-28
  • Page Count: 18