The education of nations : how the political organization of the poor, not democracy, led governments to invest in mass education / Stephen Kosack.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kosack, Stephen, 1978-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education and state--Developing countries--Cross-cultural studies.

Education and state.

Education--Economic aspects--Developing countries--Cross-cultural studies.

Education.

Poor--Education--Developing countries--Cross-cultural studies.

Poor.

Poor--Education.

Education--Economic aspects.

Developing countries.

Genre:

Cross-cultural studies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 364 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2012]

Summary:

Mass education is vital to sustainable development, particularly in the information age. In The Education of Nations, Stephen Kosack provides a framework for understanding when a government will invest in quality mass education or concentrate on higher education restricted to elites. Drawing on detailed evidence from more than five decades in Taiwan, Ghana, and Brazil-three countries with little in common-Kosack demonstrates that two conditions lead developing nations to invest in mass education. The first of these is an economy in which employers face a shortage of skilled labor that they cannot meet with outsourcing or by hiring foreign workers; the second, and more common, is a government engaging in "political entrepreneurship of the poor"-developing organizational structures that allow poor citizens to act collectively to support the government. In bringing these conditions to light, The Education of Nations provides a method to explain not only how governments try to distribute educational opportunity, but also the implications for a range of key features of actual education systems, from the relative conditions of schools to the availability of financial aid. In an era when much of a country's success depends on its education, this book explains why governments adopt particular education policies and the political and economic changes that would lead to different ones. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Two Roots of Mass Education 3

Part I The Framework

Chapter 2 The Government's Educational Goals 23

Chapter 3 Building the Education System 49

Part II Evidence

Chapter 4 Taiwan 97

Chapter 5 Ghana 159

Chapter 6 Brazil 222

Chapter 7 Conclusion 297.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780199841677

0199841675

9780199841653

0199841659

OCLC:

757717784