Abstract

In recent decades, governments have energetically pursued changes in the way education and higher education are governed, in an attempt to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and quality of educational services. This article deals with the aforesaid general trend by comparing policy development in Australia and Canada from the 1970s onwards. This comparison can offer an interesting insight into how two types of federal system have responded to the need for the reform of governance in education and higher education. The comparison will be based on a detailed reconstruction of the longitudinal sequences through which policies, ideas, institutions and politics have interacted to design new governance modes in the educational fields.