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This book is a first exploratory inquiry into possible educational selectivity effects of the European Social Fund (ESF). It assesses the extent of the gap between the social policy objectives set through regulatory competences in multi-level governance and the structure of incentives it breeds in practice, with a broad range of implications for the capacity of the government to control for an equitable distribution of services at the community level. The chapters emphasize the educational selectivity involved in national policy decisions concerning ESF implementation in the five countries, the role of informal mechanisms in fine-tuning implementation, the negative effects of formalization and failures in accommodating the complexity of goals which characterizes the ESF, as well as the overall fairness of ESF implementation towards the most disadvantaged groups in society. The empirical analysis suggests that social-service delivery contracting as an instrument of governance is no longer regulating against risks for beneficiaries, but fuels increased social division in access to public services.
The book is the result of the Educational selectivity effects of the European Social Fund project (July 2012 and December 2013), developed with the support of the Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations.
List of contents
Contents: Cristina Stanus/Daniel Pop: Introduction: Conceptualizing educational service delivery markets created through the ESF - Sashka Dimova: Linking ESF implementation with low administrative capacity: The case of Bulgaria - Dana Prazáková: Balancing ESF goals with established national policy on special education: The case of the Czech Republic - Anna Csongor: ESF-funded education delivery under arbitrary rule-making: The case of Hungary - Cristina Stanus: Rule rigidity in face of public pressure: The case of Romania - Marek Hojsik: ESF as a substitute for national education funding: The case of Slovakia - Cristina Stanus: The educational selectivity effects of bureaucratic discretion: Conclusion and policy recommendations.
About the author
Daniel Pop leads research at the Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations. His research focuses on regulatory governance of public service commissioning and the operations of related quasi-markets.
Cristina St¿nüCristina St¿nü¿ is lecturer at the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania. Her research interests focus on the comparative study of local governance and politics and educational policy.
