Democratic Backsliding and the Balance Wheel Hypothesis: Partisanship and State Funding for Higher Education in the United States
Saved in:
| Title: | Democratic Backsliding and the Balance Wheel Hypothesis: Partisanship and State Funding for Higher Education in the United States |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Taylor, Barrett J., Kunkle, Kelsey (ORCID |
| Source: | Higher Education Policy. 2023 36(4):781-803. |
| Availability: | Palgrave Macmillan. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail:customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: http://www.palgrave.com/us/social-science/education |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 23 |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Higher Education, State Aid, Political Attitudes, State Policy, Educational Policy, Psychological Patterns |
| DOI: | 10.1057/s41307-022-00286-w |
| ISSN: | 0952-8733 1740-3863 |
| Abstract: | The balance wheel hypothesis--a classic tenet of USA state-level policy analysis that suggests state funding for higher education varies in response to macroeconomic cycles--has held up to scrutiny over time. However, new social conditions within the Republican Party, namely growing hostility toward independent institutions, call for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between state budgets and higher education. Drawing on recent research in political science and political economy, we conceptualize declining state appropriations to higher education in Republican-dominated U.S. states as an instance of democratic backsliding. Using a panel of state-level data we found that political partisanship conditioned state appropriations to higher education during and after the Great Recession. Our finding that the balance wheel operated differently in states with and without unified Republican control not only suggests partisan hostility toward higher education is a potentially worrisome indicator of democratic backsliding, but also the importance of updating models to consider the extent to which they still hold as contexts change over time. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2023 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1398405 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The balance wheel hypothesis--a classic tenet of USA state-level policy analysis that suggests state funding for higher education varies in response to macroeconomic cycles--has held up to scrutiny over time. However, new social conditions within the Republican Party, namely growing hostility toward independent institutions, call for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between state budgets and higher education. Drawing on recent research in political science and political economy, we conceptualize declining state appropriations to higher education in Republican-dominated U.S. states as an instance of democratic backsliding. Using a panel of state-level data we found that political partisanship conditioned state appropriations to higher education during and after the Great Recession. Our finding that the balance wheel operated differently in states with and without unified Republican control not only suggests partisan hostility toward higher education is a potentially worrisome indicator of democratic backsliding, but also the importance of updating models to consider the extent to which they still hold as contexts change over time. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0952-8733 1740-3863 |
| DOI: | 10.1057/s41307-022-00286-w |
