SCHOOL CHOICE POLICIES IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED-STATES - AN EXPLORATION OF THEIR ORIGINS AND SIGNIFICANCE

This paper notes some similarities between school choice policies in E ngland and the US and considers how far any convergences can be explai ned, on the one hand, by broader social changes and, on the other, by evidence of policy exchange. In the first case, it discusses the usefu lness of concepts such as post-Fordism and pose-modernity and indicate s their limitations. In the second case, it identifies relevant neolib eral policy networks within and between the two countries but finds mo re evidence of the use of overseas examples to legitimate policies at home than it does of direct policy borrowing. Reflecting upon both set s of explanations, it argues for a clearer conceptualisation of the re lationship between accounts of the micro-politics of policy making and macro-level theories of change.