From Bologna to Lisbon: the political uses of the Lisbon ‘script’ in European higher education policy

This contribution explores the transformation of higher education policy from the mere co-ordination of educational curricula by national governments to the embodiment of the Lisbon Agenda's ‘governance architecture’, together with its impact on national policies, institutions and actors.

It does so by charting change in both policy outputs and policy outcomes in four different European countries – England, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy – and by relating these changes to the ideational and organizational aspects of the Lisbon Strategy.

We suggest that Lisbon acted as a ‘script’ to be followed by national governments and other policy actors, enabling them to gradually adapt to Lisbon-induced ideational and organizational pressures, and to shape national organizational and communicative discourses that can overcome entrenched interests and transform the prevailing perception of higher education so deeply rooted in national cultural and policy traditions.