The Politics and Governance of Basic Education: A Tale of Two South African Provinces
Brian Levy, Robert Cameron, Ursula Hoadley, and Vinothan Naidoo
Abstract
This book brings together scholars from multiple disciplines to explore how political and institutional context influences the governance of basic education in South Africa at national, provincial, and school levels. A specific goal is to contribute to the crucial, ongoing challenge of improving educational outcomes in South Africa. A broader goal is to illustrate the value of an approach to the analysis of public bureaucracies, and of participatory approaches to service provision which puts politics and institutions at centre stage. Stark differences between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape ... More
This book brings together scholars from multiple disciplines to explore how political and institutional context influences the governance of basic education in South Africa at national, provincial, and school levels. A specific goal is to contribute to the crucial, ongoing challenge of improving educational outcomes in South Africa. A broader goal is to illustrate the value of an approach to the analysis of public bureaucracies, and of participatory approaches to service provision which puts politics and institutions at centre stage. Stark differences between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces offer something of a natural experiment for exploring the influence of context. The Eastern Cape’s socio-economic, political, and institutional legacy resulted in a low-level equilibrium trap in which incentives transmitted from the political to the bureaucratic levels reinforced factionalized loyalty within multiple patronage networks, and which is difficult to escape. The Western Cape, by contrast, enjoyed a more supportive environment for the operation of public bureaucracy. However, bureaucracy need not be destiny. The research also shows that strong hierarchy can result in ‘isomorphic mimicry’—a combination of formal compliance and a low-level equilibrium of mediocrity. Participatory school-level governance potentially can improve outcomes—as a complement to strong bureaucracies, or as a partial institutional substitute where bureaucracies are weak. Whether this potential is realized depends on the relative strength of developmentally oriented and predatory actors, with the outcomes not fore-ordained by local context, but contingent and cumulative—with individual agency by stakeholders playing a significant role.
Keywords:
politics of education,
bureaucracy,
participatory governance,
South Africa,
Western Cape,
Eastern Cape,
how context matters,
political settlements,
institutions,
school-level governance
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2018 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780198824053 |
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: November 2018 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198824053.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Brian Levy, editor
Professor of the Practice of International Development, School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA and Academic Director, Graduate School of Development, Policy, and Practice, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Robert Cameron, editor
Professor of Public Administration, Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Ursula Hoadley, editor
Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Vinothan Naidoo, editor
Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa
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