Transforming National Universities into Independent Agencies : The Evolution of Higher Education Policies in Japan

战后日本曾经有大约80所国立大学作为其政府机构的一部分。然而，2004年，这两个机构都变成了一个独立的公共机构。这是日本高等教育政策的一个重大变化。是什么导致政府和执政的政治联盟做出如此出人意料的决定？我对政策过程的分析表明，通行证依赖和政治能量等理论概念有助于解释可能的原因。

Post-war Japan used to have about eighty national universities as part of its governmental apparatus. Each one was, however, turned into an independent public agency in 2004. This was a big change in Japanese higher education policy. What led the government and ruling political coalition to such an unexpected decision? My analysis of the policy process suggests that theoretical concepts like pass-dependency and political energy are useful to explain the possible reasons.