Originally published in 1982, this is a collection of studies by representatives of countries in western Europe, writing about important legislation affecting universities and showing trends of government control over higher education. In the 1960s European universities faced two major challenges: a rapid increase in enrolment, with consequent expansion of staff and a growing need for money; and a demand for changes in their governing structures by student activists and some staff and government administrators. Taking the widespread student agitation in 1968 as the starting-point, the authors summarise the general history of higher education; events of the late 1960s and 1970s and their political and public consequences for educators; and the then current positions of stage and private universities in their countries. In addition, one chapter contrasts the situations in Great Britain and the United States. Hans Daalder provides a retrospective overview of these problems and their resolutions.

This volume re-publishes classical studies by Hans Daalder (1928) on three major themes: the different paths towards state formation in Europe; their effect on parties and party systems and their alleged crises; and the rise and merits of the consociational democracy model. They testify to the actuality of past analyses for understanding patterns of democratization, the stability and challenges to democracy, pluralism and individual liberties, and the political role of bureaucracies in Western Europe The book throws a unique light on the development of comparative studies after World War II as seen through the eyes on an active participant. In a fascinating preface Peter Mair contrasts two scholarly generations in the field of comparative and cross-national studies.