Jens Jungblut

• Breeman, Gerard; Cavari, Amnon; Jungblut, Jens; Shpaizman, Ilana; Timmermans, Arco & Valgermo, Jon Bøe (2026). Policy Agendas in Coalition Agreements: The Enduring Influence of Policy Inheritance. Policy Studies Journal (PSJ). ISSN 0190-292X. 54(4). doi: 10.1111/psj.70169. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  New governments frequently inherit issues from their predecessors, and as a result, various policy problems tend to remain on the agenda for many years. Previous research examining the role of policy inheritance has focused mainly on the agenda during a government's term in office. These studies find that because governments must first contend with the problems they inherit, there is considerably less room for new issues to emerge on the agenda. This study seeks to examine the idea of policy inheritance through the lens of coalition agreements. Coalition agreements, a feature of multiparty governments, are drafted shortly after elections and reflect the outcome of the political struggle. For this reason, one can expect that coalition agreements contain mostly issues that parties regard as important. By implication, changes in the coalition agreements' issue agenda would be a function of the political change produced by the electoral cycle, rather than of inheritance. Analyzing coalition agreements in three countries—Israel, the Netherlands, and Norway—across 42 elections, we find no evidence for this assumption. Agendas in coalition agreements do not vary with changes in the party composition of the coalition, changes in the ideological distance between parties, or changes in the party holding the office of Prime Minister. This indicates that even when new coalition governments are preparing for their term in office, inheritance remains the primary driver of agenda‐setting.

• Jungblut, Jens; Maassen, Peter & Stensaker, Bjørn (2026). Investigating the Dynamics of European University Alliances as Multi‐Level Governance Spaces. European Policy Analysis. 12(3). doi: 10.1002/epa2.70050. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The European universities initiative (EUI) has been presented by some as a disruptive policy initiative within the Europe of Knowledge given its speed, scale and scope of changes. In this article, a multi‐level governance (MLG) perspective is used to investigate the most important similarities and differences regarding the national policy responses to the EUI in Germany and Norway. The applied MLG perspective focuses on three dimensions: center‐periphery, state‐society, and international‐domestic. Although Norway and Germany can be considered to be most different systems from the perspective of our research questions, we found interesting similarities between the countries, particularly regarding the strong interest in participating in a European alliance. At the same time, the role of the state and in particular that of the political leadership in the form of the responsible sectoral ministries, has been strikingly different, reflecting the differences in the countries' relationship with the EU.

• Jungblut, Jens & Stensaker, Bjørn (2026). Extended collegiality? The role of students in external quality assurance panels in Europe. Quality in Higher Education. ISSN 1353-8322. s. 1–17. doi: 10.1080/13538322.2026.2663650. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Student representation in external quality assurance is a mandatory requirement in European higher education systems and the involvement of students in such processes is seen as important for the legitimacy of evaluations, accreditations and audits. However, there is limited knowledge about the role students play in external quality assurance panels and how they perceive their involvement. This study seeks to address this gap. It is based on a survey of students who routinely take part in external quality assurance exercises across Europe. The survey shows that students perceive themselves as representatives, partners or even experts. Students’ multiple roles and their integration into panel practices indicate that quality assurance panels function as a form of extended collegiality. In the discussion, the paper outlines the key conditions for integrating students into external quality assurance and not least, how students’ expertise in such processes may be enhanced.

• Jungblut, Jens (2026). Turning the university into a political actor. Policy Reviews in Higher Education. ISSN 2332-2969. doi: 10.1080/23322969.2026.2640865. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Higher education has gained significant political salience globally, driven by continuous massification, increased public and private investment, and its central role as a driver of modern knowledge economies as well as a provider of solutions for societal challenges. This attention, however, occurs within an environment of growing populism, neo-nationalism, and challenges to liberal values such as academic freedom, creating both opportunities and threats for universities and their leadership. Building on the work by Krücken and Meier regarding organizational actorhood of universities, this paper argues that the contemporary, contentious political landscape sets incentives for universities to move beyond being merely organizational actors and become political actors. This shift is necessary for universities to actively shape their political environment and secure their legitimacy, which is increasingly challenged by colliding interests of various national and global stakeholders. To navigate this reality, universities are increasingly adopting strategies associated with policy entrepreneurs. This development demands fundamental adjustments from higher education institutions and their leadership. Acknowledging universities as political actors invites research to re-conceptualize established ideas about higher education governance and policymaking, moving past the notion of universities as passive recipients of policies and steering signals from their political or social environments.

• Jungblut, Jens; Weidmann, Nils B. & Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2026). The politics behind political science: A cross-national perspective. European Political Science. ISSN 1680-4333. doi: 10.1017/s1682098326100241. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Political science concerns topics that can be highly relevant for politicians. Political science research and education offer insights that can help incumbents win elections or govern better. At the same time, the discipline provides knowledge that can be used to challenge politicians in office, for example, on how to organise mass protests or effective opposition parties. Therefore, politicians in power may have mixed feelings about the existence of political science departments. Some will encourage their establishment, while others – perhaps especially autocrats – may try to contain their presence or control their location. We study the existence and placement of political science units at universities across the world and assess the extent to which these features vary with regime type. Using large-N data on university subdivisions, we examine cross-national variation in existence and within-country variation in the location of political science departments. We find surprisingly few substantial differences along the democracy–autocracy continuum: Political science units, on average, are no more frequent in democracies. Across regime types, political science units are about equally likely to be located at public (versus private) institutions, and similarly likely to be placed at universities closer to the capital.

• Jungblut, Jens & Elken, Mari (2025). Searching for the Right Balance between Equality and Differentiation: Education Policies in Norway. I Kolltveit, Kristoffer; Allern, Elin Haugsgjerd; Braut-Hegghammer, Målfrid & Rasch, Bjørn Erik (Red.), Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780198888581. s. 570–589. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198888581.013.0030. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Abstract This chapter presents an overview of education policies and policy debates in Norway. To this end, it encompasses three main parts. First, the chapter provides an overview of the normative foundation and structure of the Norwegian education system. Second, the chapter contains a summary of key policy developments in Norwegian education policy since 1945, including primary and secondary education, vocational education, and higher education. The third part benchmarks the performance of the Norwegian education system against other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, highlighting key policy challenges and trade-offs. Overall, Norwegian education policy has a strong focus on ensuring societal equality through a common school with minimal differentiation. However, this also creates tensions regarding the question of the right balance between equal treatment of all pupils and providing space for individual differentiation.

• Finger, Tobias; Biel, Jonas; Stockemer, Daniel; Niemann, Arne; Reinke, VIncent & Jungblut, Jens Patrick Wilhelm [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2025). The Football Effect: Comparing European Identity Between Fans and Non-Fans. Contemporary European Politics. 2(3-4). doi: 10.1002/cep4.70003. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The formation of European identities is a pivotal issue for the cohesion of the European community in times of multiple crises. Based on theories of identity formation through habitualisation, we posit that football fandom—a ubiquitous, emotional, strongly Europeanised activity in everyday life—holds unique potential for fostering a sense of a shared European identity. Football fandom provides habitual contact, interaction and experiences of Europe, shaping fans' European identity formations. We use new representative survey data from four European countries (Germany, Norway, Poland, and Spain) to examine the relationship between football fandom and various dimensions of European identity. The results largely support our hypotheses, demonstrating that football fans exhibit stronger attachments to Europe and the EU, greater support for European integration and a more positive assessment of EU membership than non-fans.

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• Vukasovic, Martina; Elken, Mari & Jungblut, Jens (2026). Coupling of rules and practices in higher education.
• Elken, Mari; Jungblut, Jens & Maassen, Peter (2025). Academic Freedom and European Knowledge Policy. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Elken, Mari; Jungblut, Jens & Maassen, Peter (2025). Academic Freedom and European Knowledge Policy. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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