Private actors in policy processes. entrepreneurs, edupreneurs and policyneurs

Bibliographic Data

ID11488136
AuthorsAnna Jobér (0000-0001-9720-0233, Malmö University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume39
Issue1
Pages20-39
Publication date2024-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Education Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-0939 • E-ISSN: 1464-5106
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02680939.2023.2166128
OpenAlexW4315646730
LanguageFR
Citations received13
References cited32

As the privatisation of the public sector has grown rapidly in Sweden in the last decade, private companies have become an imperative part of education. Private companies sell and deliver consultancy, hardware, software, services, etc. to schools and municipalities. This study examines a growing rate of activities from companies and businesses working within public sectors. It also examines consequences of cooperation between private and public actors. Findings show that multiple actors meet in different forms and with different functions, in multiple ways and with diverse agendas. What can be discerned is strong Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), where actors and networks are linked together, directly or indirectly, in fluid and flexible relations and partnerships. Private actors on educational markets not only becomes edupreneurs but policyneurs, a new concept introduced. As private actors engage in the policy making and the public sphere, a complex and disorganised landscape with new formations of strong actors emerge, entailing a number of consequences. One implication is the establishment of lobbyism in the Swedish educational landscape, with potentially negative consequences for democracy. One conclusion is that new formations of power dissolve the roles and functions of private and public actors within education, with implications on decision-making, transparency, and democracy

Business · Democracy · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Private sector · Public relations · Transparency (behavior · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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