Provincial Government Postsecondary Policy Formation: Results of a Comparative Analysis in Canadian Tuition Policy Episodes

• In Event: Agenda Setting and Policy Formulation: Applications of Kingdon’s Multiple Streams to Education Policy Making

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify common factors involved in the setting of provincial government tuition policy through a comparative analysis of three case studies in Canada. This study employs two alternative theories of the policy process, the multiple streams model (Kingdon, 2003) and the advocacy coalition framework (Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1993) to inform an analytical cross-case comparative analysis of five key elements in understanding major policy change. The significant government tuition policy changes in Ontario, British Columbia and, Manitoba provide different political, economic, and policy governance contexts to understand the nature of policy innovation in Canada, which is important given the complex nature of post-secondary policy formation in the federal system.

Author

• Deanna L. Rexe, Simon Fraser University