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University autonomy is a predictor of English medium instruction in European higher education
No full textDespite extensive research into English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in higher education, few if any studies have explored the role of higher education autonomy in driving EMI. This paper tests the novel hypothesis that university autonomy—spearheaded across European higher education through neoliberally predicated ‘steering at a distance’ reforms—predicts EMI. The data are multilevel with higher education institutions (HEIs) nested inside education systems. The University Autonomy Scorecards (Pruvot & Estermann, 2017) operationalise university autonomy at the education-system level (n = 26) and measure four dimensions of autonomy: academic, financial, staffing, and organisational. We include ‘overall autonomy’ as the average. The European Tertiary Education Register provides HEI-level data (n = 1815), which we combine with a count of English-taught degree programmes (ETPs) to measure EMI, provided by Study Portals, the largest online portal of degree programmes. We conduct multilevel regression to analyse the relationships between autonomy and EMI. The results showed that overall autonomy predicts EMI in public universities (p = 0.002). Increasing overall autonomy by one point above the mean increases the likelihood of offering EMI by 9.5%. Academic, staffing, and organisational autonomy predict EMI in public universities, whereas financial autonomy does not. The first to quantify a relationship between university autonomy and EMI, this study offers new insights into how EMI comes about. By revealing a previously obscured interconnectedness between language shift and higher education governance, the study demonstrates the value added of an interdisciplinary approach and proposes a new line of inquiry for future research
Opposing Backsliding Through Policy Competition:The Case of Poland's Civic Platform (2015-2023)
No full textDemocratic backsliding is often accompanied by popular policy innovations which boost the incumbent’s popularity, leaving opposition parties in a difficult electoral position. We analyze the strategies available to the opposition in such contexts through a theoretical discussion of issue-based competition and an exploratory case study of Poland’s main opposition party Civic Platform (PO) during eight years of democratic backsliding under United Right governments. Studying the changing positions of PO in three policy areas (abortion, social policy and national memory and identity), we outline how the opposition can re-position itself to attract votes. We argue that backsliding, because it produces a sense of urgency, incentivizes opposition parties to shift some of their policy positions either towards or away from the incumbent’s – even on issues that are central to their political identity. Because backsliding unleashes an existential conflict that strengthens partisan loyalties, opposition voters tolerate some changes that go against their preferences
Geopolitics and Security Leadership
No full textGeopolitical and geo-economic conflicts generate significant political risk for business as well as the public and voluntary sectors. This leads to a growing need for good security management. The articles in this special issue address the development of geopolitical risk and changes in war and conflict. The articles contribute to increased knowledge about geopolitical risk assessment and management
Constrained Localism in an Authoritarian Environment:Developments in Solidarity With Displaced Ukrainians in Hungary
No full textThe paper examines how collaborations and alliance-building among civic and municipal actors supporting displaced Ukrainians in Hungary contributed to the emergence of localism as an alternative approach to the central state’s hostile migration policy and curtailment of the rights of civic and municipal actors. The qualitative research, which forms the basis of this study, explored the solidarity acts of civic and municipal actors and considered how the Hungarian state and international humanitarian organizations contributed to localizing refugee-support responsibilities. Applying the notion of constrained localism, we seek to indicate how localism unfolds through alliances between civic and municipal solidarity actors, sometimes transforming longer-term refugee reception and diversity governance, while in other cases, remaining fragile, limited in scope, and contended
